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Of this book there have been printed 
for private distribution, two hun- 
dred and fifty copies on 
plain paper and twelve 
copies on Imperial 
Japan paper 



JOHN JOHNSTON 

OF NEW YORK 

MERCHANT 

1781-1851 



JOHN JOHNSTON 

OF NEW YORK 
MERCHANT 



HY 



EMILY JOHNSTON de FOREST 



^j^^ 
"^^ 



• SAWNEY LENT THE MaN HIS Mui.I. 

Ano the Mull was lext hy SaiKnei/ 



NEW YORK 

PRIVATELY PRINTED 

M C M I X 



A.,-'. 



vo/-- 







COPYRIGHT, 1909 
BY EMILY JOHNSTON DE FOREST 



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5. '9^^ 


Oi. A. •,: 4 


<537 


AU3 4 


1909 



T () INI Y 

CHILDREN 

AND GRANDCHILDREN 

I LOVINGLY DEDICATE 

THIS BOOK 



FOREWORD 

I HAVE sought in the following pages to tell the 
story of the life of my paternal grandfather, John 
Johnston, chiefly as it is set forth in his journals 
and letters. In 1804, at the age of twenty-three, he 
came from Scotland to New York with a total capital, 
according to his carefully kept note-book, of $13!^. 89, 
and by his own energy and industry raised himself to 
a prominent position in the merchant guild of his 
adopted city. 

In the references to his Scotch parents I have not 
sought to trace their origin — a family duty which has 
been undertaken by my cousin, John Humphreys 
Johnston. It is enough for all purposes of this sketch 
to know, as my cousin has told me, that our forebears 
were of gentle blood and fallen fortunes— a combina- 
tion only too well known in Galloway, as the result of 
civil and religious upheaval and spoliation, during the 
Revolution and Covenanting persecutions. 

[ix] 



FOREWORD 

I wish here to record my indebtedness not only to 
the members of the family of James Boorman Johnston, 
my father's brother, who have freely allowed me to use 
the papers in their possession, but alro to the cousins 
in Galloway, who have granted me the same kind 
privilege. 



E. J. de F. 



7 Washington Square, 
June, 1909. 



CONTENTS 



Foreword 

I Childhood and Scotch Home, 1781-1804 
II Beginnings in New York, 1804-1809 

III Voyages to India, 1809-1811 . 

IV War with England, 181^-1815 
V Early Married Days, 1817-1832 

VI Trip to Europe, 1832-1833 . 
VII Washington Square, 1833-1842 
VIII Latter Days, 1843-1851 . 



PAGE 

ix 

3 

23 

49 

72 

104 

128 

148 

176 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
John Johnston of New York . . Frontispiece 

From a painting by Rembrandt Peale (1826), owned by 
his grandson, J. Herbert Johnston. 

The Mull Title Page 

"Presented to Mr. Jn Johnston New York by his friend 
W?? Johnston Kirkcudbright. 1815." Owned by J. 
Herbert Johnston. 



FACING 
PAGE 



Barnboard Mill 4 

From a photograph. 

The Balmaghie Kirkyard 6 

From a photograph. 

William Johnston of Kirkcudbright . . 8 

From a painting in the Kirkcudbright Museum. 

William Johnston's House, Kirkcudbright . 10 

From a photograph. 

Haugh of Urr 1^ 

From a photograph. 

MiLLBANK Cottage 14 

From a photograph. 

John Johnston, Miller of Barnboard, 1837 . 18 

From a painting owned by his granddaughter, Mrs. 
Joseph Newall, Dalbeattie, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. 

[xiii] 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING 
PAGE 



The Tombstone 22 

Marking the resting-place of four generations of Johnstons. 

View of New York from Brooklyn Heights, 

1803 24 

From a contemporary engraving by Samuel Seymour, 
after a painting by William Birch. 

The Rev. John M. Mason, D.D 36 

From a water-color painting formerly owned by John John- 
ston. 

Nasserwanjee Monackjee, Sett . ... 60 

From a painting presented to John Johnston during one 
of his East Indian visits. 

The Shakers' Procession and Dance ... 80 

Reproduced from old engravings. 

The Sea-Fight Between the Chesapeake and 

THE Shannon, during the war of 1812 . . 84 

From a contemporary engraving. 

John Taylor 104 

From a painting owned by his great-grandson, Charles 
Austin Sherman. 

The Battery in 1830 108 

From a contemporary engraving. 

The Doorway of 16 Greenwich Street . .117 

From a pen-and-ink drawing, after photograph. 

Margaret Taylor Johnston. About 1828. . 122 

From a painting owned by her granddaughter, Mrs. Pierre 
Mali. 

John Johnston's Four Children .... 124 

From a painting owned by his granddaughter, Mrs. Robert 
W. de Forest. 

[xiv] 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING 
PAGE 



HoLYROOD Palace and Arthur's Seat, as 

seen from Regent Terrace 134 

From a photograph. 

City Hotel. One block a])ove Trinity Chiircli . 14() 

From a coiiteniporary engraving. 

"The Row." North Wasliinglon Square . . l.)() 

From a photograj)h. 

"The Long 'Un" 1;>7 

From a pen-and-ink sketch in a, letter, by James Boornian 
Johnston. 

John Taylor Sherman l.)S 

From a daguerreotype owned l)y his brother, Howard Sher- 
man, of New Haven, Conn. 

Robert Johnston 100 

From a miniature painted in 1841, owned by Mrs. Robert 
W. de Forest. 

The New York University. Situated from 

1832 to 1894 on Washington Square . .162 

From a photograph. 

John Bigelow, 1840 IGG 

From a photograph of a painting owmed by his children, 

James Boorman Johnston 168 

From a crayon drawing made by WilHam Morris Hunt in 
1853, owned by Mrs. James Boorman Johnston. 

The " Olive " Coat 169 

From a pen-and-ink sketch in a letter, by James Boorman 
Johnston. 

John Johnston 170 

From a photograph of a painting owned by Mrs. James 
Boorman Johnston. 

[XV] 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

" The Cabins." Hot Springs of Virginia . . 174 

From a photograph. 

Alexander Johnston 184 

From a silhouette made in 1843, owned by Miss Clara 
Johnston, Dalbeattie. 

The Explosion in Broad Street, 1845 . . . 188 

From one of the " fire prints " of the time. 

John, James and Margaret, 1849 . . . .190 

From a daguerreotype owned by J. Herbert Johnston. 

" Maggie and her Friends," 1847 . . , . 192 

From a daguerreotype owned by Mj s Robert W. de Forest. 

Mrs. John Johnston, 1864 194 

From a photograph. 



JOHN JOHNSTON 

OF NEW YORK 

MERCHANT 

1781-1851 



CHAPTER I 
CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

1781-1804 

TO tell the story of John Johnston of New York 
it is necessary to begin with some account of his 
parents and of his Scotch home. His father, 
for whom he was named, was born in the rugged and 
picturesque County of Galloway, at a farm situated in 
Balmaghie Parish, on the banks of the River Dee, then 
as now called " Boatcroft," — "croft" meaning a farm. 
Nearby was a ferry operated by my grandfather's father 
when he was a boy; this was superseded in time by 
the Glenlochar bridge, whose stone arches now span 
the river near the little group of farm buildings whicli 
still nestle among the trees. 

Sympathetic accounts of this country are given in 
"The Men of the Moss Hags" and " Raiderland— All 
about Gray Galloway" by S. R. Crockett, the author, 
who was born at the '* Little Duchrae Farm," not far 
from Boatcroft. Still another book, "The Black 
Douglas," describes the great Douglas tournaments of 
tlie olden times as taking place at Glenlochar, and the 
"Lists" as being "set up on the level meadow that 
is now called the Boat Croft." 

[3] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

It was probably while living at Boatcroft, in 1780, 
that John Johnston married Dorothea Proudfoot, one 
of three sisters, from the neighboring town of Moffat. 

After his marriage the young man rented Barn- 
board Mill and farm, in Balmaghie Parish, two miles 
from his old home, and took his young wife there to 
live. This farm, part of the estate of Balmaghie, 
consisted of about ninety acres, through which ran a 
little rippling " burn," which furnished power for the 
mills — a tiny " lint " mill and a larger grist mill. To 
the latter all the neighbors brought their grain to be 
ground, while in the little lint mill flax was so treated 
that it could be spun into linen thread. 

The farm is picturesquely situated on rolling 
ground, the mill and farm buildings standing in a little 
dell shadowed by many fine trees; these trees were all 
planted by John Johnston the elder, who beautified 
in a simple way any place in which he lived. At Barn- 
board Mill, on June 22, 1781, his son John, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was born, and there he spent his 
childhood. 

Dorothea Proudfoot was a woman of beautiful 
character and her son felt that he owed a great deal 
to his "good mother." In his journals and letters he 
always spoke of her with deep tenderness and in later 
years wrote of her: 

" My mother was a pious woman who was at great 
pains early to impress upon my mind a knowledge of 
divine truth — at her earnest solicitation, I read the 
Bible & because I saw it gave her pleasure I actually 
became attached to it; and I recollect that I was much 
delighted to hear her talk of heavenly things & fre- 

[4] 




-5 ''' 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

quently slipt to her room door & listened whilst she 
was at prayer (and in these prayers I always heard 
myself warmly remembered). I was very rigid too in 
the performance of what I called prayer & used 
regularly to repeat, morning & evening, certain forms 
which she taught me — ^so zealous was I in this duty 
that if I had omitted it in going to Bed I used to get up 
in the course of the night, kneel before my Bedside 
naked as I was, & repeat them. I was likewise very 
fond of learning & repeating Psalms & Hymns & 
used generally to say them over until I fell asleep. In 
this manner I acted until my mother's death, which 
happened when I was about 13 years of age, when 
being in a good measure left to my own government, 
my goodness soon appeared to be like the morning 
Cloud or early Dew — I soon forgot all her good advices." 

As long as Dorothea was able, she rode to Bal- 
maghie Church on Sundays on the same horse with 
her husband, but when this was no longer possible on 
account of ill-health, she remained at home and de- 
voted herself to teaching her son his catechism. An 
old woman named Tibbie Geddes, who used to live 
near Barnboard Mill, in later years loved to tell of 
having found my grandfather, during one of his visits 
to his old home, probably in 1814, sitting on a stone 
at the burn side, " greeting;" and of his saying, " You 
will think me childish, but this is where my mother 
used to sit, and wash my face and comb my hair and 
teach me my Psalm and questions on the Sabbath day 
when they were all at church, whither she was too 
delicate to go." 

"On June 1, 1794," as we read in her epitaph, 

[5] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

" Dorothea Proudfoot, Spouse to John Johnston, miller, 
Barnboard, departed this life after nine months severe 
affliction, which she bore with exemplary fortitude 
and Christian resignation — in the 36th year of her age." 

Her thirteen-year-old son, her only child, was sent 
on horseback to the eight-miles distant town of Kirk- 
cudbright to buy white stockings and gloves *' in which 
to dress her body." She was buried in Balmaghie 
Churchyard, where her husband's father (William 
Johnston) and his wife (Janet McCreedy), who had 
been living with them at Barnboard, were interred 
shortly afterwards. 

Crockett, many of whose ancestors are buried here, 
writes of this lovely spot, " Over the hill yonder in the 
Balmaghie Kirkyard, the sweetest and the sunniest 
God's Acre in Scotland," and quotes the supposed 
words of the great " Cameronian Apostle," John Mac- 
millan, describing the churchyard of this, his new 
parish : " To me it was like the calm of the New Jeru- 
salem. And, indeed, no place that ever I have seen 
can be so blessedly quiet as the bonny kirk-knowe of 
Balmaghie, mirrored on a windless day in the encir- 
cling stillness of the Water of Dee." 

The first money saved by the son after he had gone 
to America, was sent back to Scotland for the purpose 
of putting up a tombstone to the memory of his mother, 
and he never visited Scotland without going to see her 
grave or without being " very much affected thereby." 
The first headstone was a modest one, for which he 
sent exact measurements and an inscription. It was 
to be in brown stone, " plain & neat, as carving 1 
dislike," painted white with black lettering, and was 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

to be repainted at his expense whenever defaced. This 
was replaced after his half-brother Alexander's death 
by the present more elaborate monument. 

During John's boyhood, one of his greatest pleasures 
was to visit his Aunt Jane Proudfoot, his mother's 
sister. Her cottage was on the banks of the " bonny 
Moffat water " and constituted part of " Dumcrief," 
the estate of Dr. Currie, the well-known editor of 
Burns's works. Here John spent many happy days, 
fishing in the river or picking gooseberries in his aunt's 
lovely garden. Fishing was one of his great delights, 
and even during subsequent visits to Dumcrief he 
always found a few spare moments to indulge in his 
favorite pastime. On one of these occasions he wrote, 
" This is almost the only place that appears as lovely 
in reality as my imagination had painted it. I con- 
sider the time that I spent in my visits to Dumcrief as 
the most happy of my youthful days." 

My grandfather attended school in the neighboring 
village of Laurieston, and also at Boreland. The edu- 
cation thought necessary to fit a boy for life was very 
meagre in that simple region, and he complained later 
of this deficiency and took every opportunity to sup- 
plement it. The course of study consisted chiefly of 
arithmetic and book-keeping, and the kind of instruc- 
tion received may be gathered from a letter he wrote 
many years later: 

" Of the three masters that I attended not one 
taught English Grammar, or considered it necessary. 
The last one indeed I importuned to teach me and 
was accordingly allowed to learn to repeat it by rote 
like a Parrot, my judgment was never exercised and 

[7] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

I left off just as wise as I began. Latin was universally 
given up as good for nothing; French was not under- 
stood neither was good penmanship. Book-keeping 
and mensuration, no matter how written, were con- 
sidered as all that was necessary to complete a good 
education and on these I lost some of the most precious 
of my time. I say lost not because I consider them alto- 
gether useless, but because things of equal importance 
ought to have been attended to at the same time; a man 
with such an education may be a Scholar among 
Clowns, but he is only a Clown among Scholars! 

" I have long ago felt the errors of my education 
in their full force. Many a blush has my miserable 
penmanship and gross ignorance cost me, and many 
an hour hard study when I had more need of relaxa- 
tion. By this means I have recovered a part of what 
I had lost, but much is irrecoverably gone." 

At Boreland he formed a lasting friendship for one 
of his schoolmates, Samuel Haining, who later became 
a clergyman with a parish on the Isle of Man. 

The elder John was a kind and genial man, de- 
pendent upon a wife and family for his happiness, and 
in 1795, a year after Dorothea's death, married Mar- 
garet Rae, a capable and affectionate woman. She 
made him a good wife and bore him ten children — 
Jessie (Janet), 1796; Agnes (Nanny), 1797; William, 
1800; Samuel, 1802; Robert, 1804; James, 1806; 
Jeanie, 1808; Alexander, 1810; Margaret, 1813; and 
Dorothea (Dolly), 1816. 

As has been said, John's education consisted chiefly 
in preparing him to fill an accountant's position, and 
no assistance of this kind being needed in his father's 

[8] 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

simple affairs, and it being necessary that lie should 
now begin to support himself, he was sent in 1798, a 
lad of seventeen, to the seaport town of Kirkcudbright, 
where for five or six years he " served his time " learning 
practical book-keeping, etc., in the counting-house of 
William Johnston, who was, however, no relation, or, 
at most, a very distant one. 

His employer was thirteen years his senior, but the 
friendship begun at this time was the most important 
of his early days and was destined to be of life-long 
duration, with only one break, which will be alluded 
to later. A touching change took place in the relation- 
ship between these two; as a boy John looked up to 
and depended greatly on his older friend, but with larger 
opportunity developed more fully, so that as time 
passed, William, who had always loved him and had 
been so great a help to him in his youth, came to have 
a deep admiration for him as well. We notice in one 
of his letters that William liked " a plain open hearted 
good lad, not one stuff'd fue o' pride like a Goose 
with Scallions & Pepper at Christmas." He appar- 
ently found that this lad answered the description, 
while John, on the other hand, once wrote to a friend 
then occupying a position similar to his own earlier one: 

" With regard to Mr. J. I think I know him well — 
he is a man of a very hasty temper, but his passion is 
but of a moment's continuance — his heart under a 
rough surface contains a great quantity of the milk 
of human kindness & his friendships when formed are 
lasting. . . . Obey his orders with cheerfulness, always 
showing a disposition to anticipate his wishes, which, 
independent of its being your duty, will save you 

[9] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

many an hours bitterness & enable you to finish your 
two remaining years with both pleasure & profit to 
yourself." 

The young man became an inmate of William's 
household, where he was made to feel entirely at home 
and where he always stayed when, in later years, 
he revisited Kirkcudbright. According to William's 
daughters, he was kind and considerate, and, although 
working diligently, early and late, in the counting- 
house, devoted every spare moment to study, poring 
over his books in the evening by the light of a candle. 
" I had an insatiable thirst for reading," he wrote later, 
" but having no person to direct my choice of Books I 
unfortunately chose those that were least calculated for 
improvement; — namely, Romances, Novels, Plays & 
sometimes History. — In fact I read promiscuously all 
that came to hand." 

Here began his great love of books and of reading, 
a taste that ever increased during his life and that 
was inherited by his sons. Every penny he could spare 
was always spent on books. What would not he and 
William, also fond of reading, have given for the 
privilege of using the beautiful library since built in the 
town of Kirkcudbright. The value William Johnston 
placed upon education, was shown by the fact that he 
bequeathed money to build and endow the Johnston 
Free School, still in existence there. 

Another interest which William and John had in 
common was a desire to discover something about 
their ancestors. William suggested that they " to- 
gether overhaul the graves in Galloway," and in 
1814, on John's first return to Scotland, he was for 

[10] 




WILLIAM JOHNSTON S HOUSE, KIRKCUDBRIGHT 
THE OXK WITH THE DOITBLE DOOR 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

two entire days " occupied with Mr. Johnston in ex- 
amining & cleaning old grave stones in Moffat Church- 
yard," as well as at Kirkpatrick Juxta. It was evident 
that they both had relatives named Proudfoot. 

John's father and William also had many discus- 
sions on this interesting subject, the former asserting 
that William was an Annandale (or "thief") Johnston, 
while William retorted that John was nothing but a 
Galloway (or " gypsy ") Johnston, proof of which was 
his well shaped feet and legs, they being a distinguishing 
characteristic of the " Gypsy- Johnstons." After such 
controversies they would often, to quote William 
Johnston's own words, have " a bottle of Peter Black's 
ale, a snuff and a laugh to hand down our brose " 
(oatmeal porridge). In fact, William's daughters said 
that it was always a " red letter day " when the Miller 
of Barnboard came to see them. 

During the years John spent in William's counting- 
house, they had long conferences with regard to the 
young man's great desire to go to America. A brother 
of the older man was already settled there, to whom 
he could give John an introduction, and when in 1804 
the latter undertook the journey, it was William who 
lent him part of the necessary money. Later, in a 
letter from America, John referred to these conversa- 
tions, saying, " I have got to the very summit of my 
then desires, not only by being safely landed in America, 
but likewise by obtaining a situation in a counting- 
house that in respectability yields to none in Newyork." 
Eighteen months after leaving home he repaid William's 
loan, adding, "Permit me again my dear Sir to assure 
you that although I have thus paid what may be called 

[11] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

my legal debt, I by no means consider the debt of 
Gratitude which I owe to you & to your family can- 
celled, nor do I wish it; it is a debt which I deem it an 
honour to owe." 

On William's advice and following in his footsteps, 
one of John's last acts before he set sail was, on March 
4, 1804, to qualify and be admitted to the Masonic 
" Lodge of St. Cuthbert, held in Kirkcudbright." 
This enabled him to have a feeling of kinship with the 
brothers of the organization wherever he found them 
on the " face of the Terragious Globe." The diploma 
issued to him declares in the solemn language of such 
documents that " our very Worthy Brother John John- 
ston was by us Entered, Passed & Raised to the Sub- 
lime degree of a Master Mason." Many years later 
his Masonic medallion was still treasured among his 
" trinkets." 

While the happenings in the Scotch household sub- 
sequent to John's departure for America, will be touched 
upon in their proper chronological place, it seems best, 
in order to give as vivid a picture as possible of the 
family and home that he left, to relate here the most 
important of these events. 

After John left Scotland, William wrote to him 
frequently, giving him news of the old home. This 
was not always of an encouraging character, and one 
of the first things the son set himself to do after his 
establishment in New York and the payment of his 
debt to William, was to make better provision for his 
father, who was increasingly unable to manage his 
money matters. In 1810 John wrote to his friend: 

[12] 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

" It has always been my intention to make my 
father and his family more comfortable as soon as my 
circumstances would permit, and although money is 
perhaps of more consequence to me now, on the eve 
of commencing business, than it may be hereafter, yet 
I would not defer doing good until it may be perfectly 
convenient, lest I be deprived of the power of doing 
it altogether. I shall therefore write him to confer 
freely with you respecting his affairs, and I beg that 
you will arrange them in such a manner that what I 
send may be applied to the support of his family." 

In 1808 the lease of Barnboard Mill and farm had 
I'un out and " the Miller," as William Johnston always 
called the elder John, had moved with his family to 
Millbank Mill and farm, ten miles distant, at the little 
village of Haugh on the River Urr (Haugh of Urr), in 
the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. 

When in 1818 the younger John, then travelling in 
Scotland, visited his father's new home, he considered 
the ]\Iill Cottage inadequate and leasing an adjacent 
})lot of ground built a house on it, over what had pre- 
viously been a large grain cellar. This house was after- 
wards called Millbank Cottage, and he gave it to his 
father for a home. The plot of ground was held " In 
Feu " — a species of land tenure common throughout 
Scotland, meaning that the land was owned in large 
estates by the Lairds and was leased, often in perpet- 
uity, while the buildings were owned by the tenants.* 

Millbank Cottage was small — in fact, it is difficult 



*The lease of this land was to run for ninety-nine years and to expire in 
1917 unless the occupants of the cottage then wished to renew it. It is still 
owned and occupied by Samuel's daughter, Agnes N. Johnston. 

[13] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

to understand how John's father and his large family 
crowded into it. Besides the ordinary living rooms, 
there was a large basement room where the grain had 
previously been stored, and here parties and family 
gatherings were held amidst much merriment. The 
parents had a bedroom on the ground floor, one end of 
which was partitioned off to form a built-in bed with 
curtains in front of it. A kind of loft above the kitchen 
was unused for a long time, and here the rats which had 
been dispossessed from the cellar congregated. This 
loft was called the " rat room " by the children, and 
when the noise of the rats frightened the little ones, 
the father used to reassure them by saying that great 
f)reparations were being made for a rat wedding. As 
time went on, many additions were made to the place — 
a dairy was built, fruit trees planted, and a garden 
laid out with a pretty bower at the end of it. 

The life at Millbank Cottage was exceedingly sim- 
ple. Alexander, the youngest son, gives a vivid account 
of it worth quoting : 

" I can recollect . . . Father & Mother sitting on one 
side the fire, father with the tongs in his hand and now 
& then giving the fire a poke, & mother sitting sewing 
& mending for us all by the old little round stand; 
on the other side of the fire sat poor old William Dun- 
can, with the Dog (Little Hero) on his knee, both also 
have since gone to their long home; in the middle or 
somewhere about were Margt. Dolly & myself beside 
the servant girl and never without some of the neigh- 
bours dropping in to spend an hour or so, & I can re- 
member Nanny now Mrs. Maxwell & Jannet, now 
Dead, & William & Robert, who were at Dumfries 

[14] 




MILLBANK COTTAGE 
IIAUGH OF ridi 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

School, but were home every now & then to spend a 
day or two with us. Then there were Saml. attending 
the mill, & James, and the servant man Rob Halliday 
— all in addition to the before mentioned." 

The father was a strictly religious man, attending 
church every Sunday even when it meant that he, his 
wife and their little " Nanny " had to ride on the same 
horse. Every evening punctually at nine o'clock the 
father and mother would " tak the Buik "*— that is, the 
big Bible— to the bower (pronounced " boor ") at the 
end of the garden and, laying it across their knees, the 
father would read it aloud. From this ceremony none 
of the children ever dared to be absent, or even to be 
late. 

It is either about this Bible or the Bible of Samuel 
Johnston that a picturesque story is told. The book 
was of great interest to the children, as it contained 
numerous pictures, the meaning of which the father 
explained to them. Wherever there was a representa- 
tion of a " bad " man, the children used to scratch his 
face — and the devil was so very bad that the page on 
which his picture appeared was almost scratched 
through. After the children had thus wreaked their 
vengeance on the bad men and the volume had become 
very shabby, it was determined to get a new one, and 

* Crockett says of " the taking of the Buik " : 

"The family gathered without spoken summons or stroke of bell. No one 
was absent, or could be absent for any purpose whatsoever. The great Bible, 
clad rough-coated in the hairy hide of a calf, was brought down from the press 
and laid at the table-end. The head of the house sat down before it and bowed 
himself. In all the world there was a silence that could be felt. It was at this 
time every Sabbath morning that Walter resolved to be a good boy for the entire 
week." 

[15] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

the old " Biiik " was given to a poor man and thus 
lost! 

Once, however, the Bible failed the father in time 
of need — when his son Samuel wrote that he was to 
marry a Quakeress. The old gentleman was much 
troubled, for he had never heard of a Quaker. Getting 
down his never-failing guide, he studied it from be- 
ginning to end to see if he could find any mention of 
the name. Not finding it, he went to the minister, who 
reassured him, saying that the Quakers also took the 
Bible as their guide. 

Old John Johnston always wore knee breeches, 
which, for full dress, were of black velvet with buckles 
at the knees; this was undoubtedly what enabled Will- 
iam Johnston to comment on his " well shaped feet and 
legs." He was called the "Jolly Miller," was full of 
wit and song, and a favorite with everyone, young and 
old, rich and poor. While he was on congenial and 
even intimate terms with the Laird of Balmaghie, he 
was on an equally friendly footing with his poorer 
associates, and would frequently take care of a neigh- 
bor's baby for her while she read the newspaper to 
him — a welcome change of occupation for both. 

Every year he sent a barrel of oatmeal to his son 
John in America, and in return the son sent barrels of 
apples and sometimes fruit trees. After the death of 
both father and son, the family in Scotland still sent 
to the grandson, John Taylor Johnston, the annual 
barrel of oatmeal, which usually contained also a tin 
box of Scotch " short bread " and some bottles of 
mushroom "ketchup." 

An unfortunate habit of getting into " scrapes " 

[IG] 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

through signing notes for other people was one of the 
weaknesses of the father, but this did not trouble him 
much, and if he got out of his difficulty somehow, he was 
(juite ready to do the same thing again. 

The Laird's "Factor" and he had many disputes 
over the rental account, and at one time he was so 
obstinate and so sure of the justice of his claims that 
he allowed himself to be put in jail rather than yield. 
This was the occasion of his son John's quarrel with 
William Johnston, who had in charge a fund for the 
father's use. As Robert, John's half-brother, wrote in 
one of his letters, " Mr. Johnston stated that our Father 
was willing to go to jail, but that was no plea for his 
allowing him to go." John promptly took his father's 
funds out of William Johnston's hands. The latter 
was in a great rage about it, and Robert remarked, " I 
suppose that is the breaking up of their long standing 
friendship." This, however, was not the case. The 
tie was strong enough to stand even this strain. The 
breach was healed, and it was from William that John, 
in 1841, had tidings of the death of his father and 
step-mother. 

Three of John's half-brothers — William, Robert, 
and Alexander — through his assistance followed him in 
later years to America and did well there. They, like 
John, felt the deficiency of their Scotch education, but 
in addition reproached themselves with the fact that 
they had not always made the most of such oppor- 
tunities as had been offered them. Their home letters 
were full of urgent entreaty that their younger sisters 
be given the best teaching available, and they often 

[17] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

sent money to this end. Robert, in particular, was 
very solicitous regarding the character of the school to 
which Margaret and Dolly should be sent, urging that 
they not only have " the advantage of a polite educa- 
tion," but that they be so placed as to enjoy " good 
genteel society" as well. 

Robert also asked that Samuel send a Dumfries 
paper over to him that he might read the Galloway 
news, but with Scotch thrift suggested that Samuel 
pay half the subscription and read the paper before 
forwarding it. 

All the daughters except Margaret married during 
the lifetime of their parents, and on each occasion 
there was a large gathering of family and neighbors, 
with dancing in the big underground room. The sons 
and tlaughters who had left home revisited it from 
time to time, and always expressed the tenderest feeling 
for their parents. " The recollections of my mother 
are still as fresh in my mind and she is as dear to me 
now as in the days of my infancy," wrote William after 
he had been ten years in America. And of his father 
he said, "He is an old man now and cannot be able to 
work much and it grieves me to think of my old father 
working so hard while I am working easy." After 
Alexander had been in America only two years and 
could ill afford it, he sent a small sum of money to 
Margaret, saying, " Out of the £5 you must give my 
good old Mother the first chance of having whatever 
she likes, then you can keep the Balance and fill my 
father's Box fu' o' Snuff or buy him a something to 
make a Night Cap to take before he goes to Bed." 

John, in the course of business trips between 

[18] 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

America and Europe, made frequent visits to his 
parents. Robert was unable to do so until 1841, 
twenty years after he had left the Haugh, at which 
time he presented excellent miniatures of himself to 
various members of the family. Alick, on his return 
home, left only a silhouette of himself, but gave money 
to the family that "likenesses" might be made of botii 
his father and mother. Only his father's portrait was 
painted, at which Alick was vastly indignant, saying, 
" Is not the likeness of my mother as desirable to me 
as my father's ? " In this picture the father holds in 
his hand a letter from his "son in America," pre- 
sumably Alexander. 

On April 26, 1841, John Johnston's wife, Mar- 
garet Rae, who had been in failing health for some 
time, died in Millbank Cottage, and her loving hus- 
band, then in his ninety-second year, survived her 
only three days. 

"An hour before her dissolution," Dorothea wrote 
to her brother Samuel, "she was asked if she had any 
assurance to cheer her through the dark valley. 'I 
think I have,' she said; she hoped she had seen Jesus 
in all his Glory waiting to receive [her] — 'I have, O 
yes ' ; and a Number more such satisfactory and cheer- 
ing answers. 

" My Father could not think it was death as it came 
nearer, but thought she was getting better, and would 
give her tea, gruell, tody, just almost constantly, think- 
ing if she would get them swallowed she would soon 
be better and would say, ' I'll be in beside ye the Morn's 
^"iglit yet my dear '; and she said; ' poor bodey,' several 
times; he says, 'ye look bonnier now than ever, and I 

[19 1 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

think you will no leave Me yet.' We got him advised 
to go Bed as we saw the change appearing." 

In February of that year Alick, then living in New 
York, had written in his journal, "The poor good 
folks are still stepping about but very frail, })oor old 
Bodies." On June 1st, a month after the death of his 
parents, the word having just reached New York, 
John said to him: "Ah Alick there is melancholy 
news this morning. Father and Mother are both 
dead!" Alick describes these events with so tender 
a hand that the account is copied here verbatim: 

"They were dead, died within 3 days 3 short days 
of one another, and buried in one Grave. Mother 
died first on the 26 April Monday — and Father poor 
man could not stand the awful shock but took to his 
bed the following day, and died on Thursday the 29th 
April — and [they] were both buried on Tuesday in 
Balmaghie Church yard on 4t}i May . . . 

" Poor Mother bade an everlasting adieu to all ter- 
restrial things about ^ })ast 4 o'clock; and on Nanny 
& Dolly going up to tell him that she was at rest he 
was sitting up in bed, seemingly expecting them and 
what they had come to tell him, and clasping his hands 
together, and looking up to Heaven — Exclaimed — ' The 
I^ord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be 
his most Holy name,' and on leaving him to give vent 
to their feelings in Nanny's room, they heard him 
getting out of his Bed & praying to the Almighty, that 
he would prepare him for his last end, as it was near 
at hand . . . 

" The next day he got up thro' the course of the 
day, and walked about & gave some orders concerning 

[ ^20 ] 



CHILDHOOD AND SCOTCH HOME 

Mother's Funeral, and after she had been laid out — 
Nanny asked him if he wd not like to see Mother once 
more, he said he wd — and went towards the door, but 
when the white sheets met his view, he held out his 
hands & exclaimed, Oh I can gang nae farther! He 
went to his Bed that night never to rise more. On 
going into his room on Thursday morning and speaking 
to him he did not answer, and in attempting to move 
him, he cried, oh — and they then saw his latter end 
was approaching fast, and allowed him to remain in 
the same position, and in a few hours his Spirit took 
its flight to the Realms of Light, and the voice that had 
cheered and delighted us all, so oft, and so long — was 
silent for ever. 

" It had been intended and invitations issued ac- 
cordingly for Mother's Funeral to take place on the 
Saturday but was then postponed until the Tuesday 
following . . . 

" Samuel had started off for Scotland immediately 
on rect. of the news of Mother's Death but with the 
fond hope of finding Father there, and staying a few 
days with him, and hearing some of his old stories 
told over again, but alas, alas! when he arrived there, 
there was no hand stretched out to welcome him, no 
sweet sounds to cheer him, no eye sparkling with 
delight, as he entered. Ah no, everything was as still 
and quiet as the grave, there he beheld them stretched 
out, in their last attire, lying side by side — cold & 
stiff as the clod of the valley . . . Father, Saml. says, 
was nothing changed — his countenance pleasant, & 
face full. 

" Oh what a sight, melancholy k solemn, yet 

[21] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

pleasant. Like Saul & Jonathan, ' They were lovely 
in their lives & in their deaths they were not divided.' . . . 
" They were buried on Tuesday 4th May in Bal- 
maghie Churchyard. Saml. says there must have 
been over (100) a hundred people at the Funeral & 
notwithstanding the day being wet & uncomfortable 
over the half that number followed them to their 
Graves — a distance I think of over G miles, & had 
they been Lord & Lady of the Land, they could not 
have died more respected or more generally regretted 
round the whole Parish where they lived." . . . 

So they were taken to the " Kirk above Dee Water," 
the homely name by which the Galloway folk know it, 
and there some kindly friends undoubtedly said of 
John Johnston the Miller, as they had said of many 
another, " Sae he's won awa." 

On his tombstone was written: 

" THIS MODEST STONE, WHAT FEW VAIN MORTALS CAN, 
MAY TRULY SAY, ' HERE LIES AN HONEST MAN ' " 




CHAPTER II 
BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

1804—1809 

THESE were the surroundings among which young 
John Johnston grew up and from which he 
started in 1804 for the New World to make 
a fortune, not only for himself, but in order that he 
might assist his family in Scotland. 

William Johnston's brother George was in business 
in New York, and William therefore decided to send 
his own son, " George, Jr.," across the ocean in charge 
of John, whose twenty-three years, made him seem, 
however, somewhat youthful for this responsibility. 
George's father having loaned John the £23 necessary 
to make up the sum required for his journey to America, 
the two boys shortly thereafter took inside places in 
the Camperdown coach from Dumfries to Glasgow and 
from thence proceeded by mail stage to Greenock. 

Here John bought for himself a " Mattrass, Blanket 
and Rugg, 16s .. . Trousers to wear on passage, 5s. 6d. 
. . . and a cotton cassimere jacket for passage, 13s. 9d." 
On March 18, 1804, they sailed from Greenock in 
the ship Factor and landed in New York on April 
21st. 

[23] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

In John's small account book he appraised his 
belongings as set forth below : 

" Whole value of Wearing Apparel, Books, 

Watch, &e. &c. brot. to America £54 . 16 . 7 ($274 . 14) 

Deducting money borrowed from Mr. 

Johnston .£23 

A balance due Capt. Caldwell . .. 5.5 28 . 5 ($141 .25) 



£26.11.7 ($132.89) 



He was provided with introductions to people who 
could be of service to him, and with one of them, a Mr. 
James Thorburn, an acquaintance of Samuel Haining, 
he lodged. 

George Johnston, to whom he was especially com- 
mended, was a man of ability and consequence in New 
York, at this time attorney for one of the sisters of John 
Paul Jones, in the matter of her interest in the estate 
of her brother. John Paul Jones, who died in Paris 
in 179*2, had made Robert Morris of Philadelphia his 
executor and had left all his property to his two sisters, 
Mrs. William Taylor and Mrs. Mary Ann Lowden, 
both of whom lived in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. 
The latter and her family, considering that the settling 
of the estate had been unnecessarily delayed, had given 
George Johnston power to force an accounting " and 
to enter upon and take possession in their name of all 
and every Dwelling houses, lands, slaves, etc." 

He showed the utmost kindness to the young men 
and within five weeks after their arrival in New York 
both of them, through his recommendation, had posi- 
tions as clerks in the counting-house of Jas. Lenox & 
Wm. Maitland, and John had the promise of being 

[24] 



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BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

made book-keeper in a short time. The members of 
this firm, warm personal friends of WiUiam Johnston, 
as well as of his brother George, were from Galloway, 
James Lenox being the younger brother of Robert 
Lenox, the founder of the family in America, whose 
son James presented the Lenox Library to New York 
City. John fully recognized his debt of gratitude to 
George Johnston for this early help and wrote to 
William: "I am under very great obligations to your 
Brother George not only for his kindness on my first 
arrival but for his attentions ever since. It was princi- 
j)ally through his representations that my character was 
so well established at first entering the oflBce; & I 
have no doubt that his intimacy with Mr. Lenox has 
influenced the conduct of the latter towards me ever 
since." 

The terms of his engagement are thus described in 
his note-book: 

" 1804 

May 26 This day entered into tlie counting house of Messrs. J. Lenox 
& W. Maitland and have agreed to remain with them four 
years from this date at the rate of $800 for the 1st year, 
$400 for the 2nd year, $500 for the 3rd year, and $600 for 
the 4th." 

This banking house, which James Lenox had estab- 
lished in New York in 1796, in addition to its other 
interests, was engaged in the East India trade, usually 
sent consignments to Calcutta every year, and always 
brought back cargoes of India goods. 

Mr. Lenox was interested in John, gave him much 
good advice, and raised his salary one hundred dollars 
after the first six months. John was gratified at this 

[25] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

and again wrote to William, " I believe if every Counting 
House in the city were in my offer I would not change 
the one I am in." He felt some anxiety, however, lest 
his handwriting should not be good enough for the 
important position of book-keeper and describes his 
plan to improve it: 

" The only thing that gives me uneasiness is that I 
do not write a better hand — Mr. Lenox writes a first 
rate hand himself and is very particular in this respect 
with his clerks. He is extremely partial to a plai7i 
copy hand and hates dashing with a perfect hatred — 
now I have been so long accustomed to write in a 
loose, careless manner that I find it no easy matter to 
lay aside my long tailed C & such like ' curiosities.' 
However, 1 must submit, as the province for which I 
am designed, that of Book-keeper, is by far the most 
critical in the office; for what might pass without cen- 
sure in a Letter or Invoice would be deemed very 
reprehensible in the Ledger. 

" To make the best of a bad bargain I go an hour 
each inorning to a writing master from whom I receive 
private lessons at the moderate rate of $20 pr. quarter 
& this I would not grudge if I saw any reasonable 
prospect of improvement, or if the Gentleman paid 
proper attention to the correction of my errors — this 
he does not — it may be from delicacy, but it is a delicacy 
that I should willingly dispense with. 

" However from a strict observance of the way in 
which his letters are formed I perceive that, when I 
take time, I can write more in the copy stile than I 
formerly could: — but then when I attempt that my 
patience has a sore trial, as I am more fatigued with 

[26] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

an hour of my neic hand than with a whole day of this 
my old one. 

" I now get up at 5 o'clock in the morning, walk 
till 6, go to school till 7, eat breakfast & repair to the 
office before 8, dine at 1, drink tea at 7, and either read, 
visit or walk from that till 10 o'clock; at which time 1 
regularly go to bed. This is a brief statement of the 
manner in which I spend my time, & I confess it is so 
much to my liking that I would not exchange — no not 
with J. Napier, altho' I believe he turns more to the 
Credit of Profit & Loss in 7 days than I will do in as 
many years." 

In spite of his brave statement that he would not 
exchange his manner of life with "J. Napier," he was 
lonely in these early days and looked forward with 
eagerness to receiving the irregular and necessarily 
infrequent letters from home. " I was agreeably sur- 
prised," he wrote to his never-failing correspondent, 
William, " by the receipt of your much esteemed favor 
of 19th March, which . . . was exceedingly precious in 
my esteem; . . . my spirits were raised at least 5 feet 
9 inches higher. ... I do not know of any other pleasure 
that can in any way be compared to that of hearing 
from an absent friend; . . . when a person is removed 
not only from his friends & relatives but likewise from 
his native country, then it is that ' Good news from a 
far country' are indeed a cordial." And to others he 
also wrote: "I long very much to hear from you — I 
feel the greatest loss from the want of the company of 
my dear friends. . . . Many a time I reflect with a sort 
of melancholy pleasure upon those happy hours which 
we spent together by the cheek of Mrs. Carson's 

[27] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

chimney, whilst the smoke of the Virginia plant ' like 
burning incense tower'd ' and feel disposed to repine 
at my heremitical condition." 

He in his turn, to save postage, sent by friends going 
over, long letters to his father and mother, describing 
to the latter such homely matters as would interest her 
— the price of foods and servants' wages, the kind of 
clothing worn, and his " mortification" at finding that 
the only usable articles he had brought over were the 
white shirts she had made him. 

Sept. 18, 1804. 
" Dear Margt. 

" I wrote my father on 12th May by a Gentleman 
going to Britain in the Liverpool packet who said he 
would be at Dumfries & probably Kirkcudbt. and as 
I perceive by the papers that the vessel arrived safe I 
have no doubt of your being long ago in possession of 
that letter. 

" This Country is exceedingly pleasant & the poorer 
Classes live, or might live, incomparably better than 
they do at home (I mean in Scotland) no laboring man 
has less than 4|6 Sterling pr. day — tradesmen & 
mechanics have from 6|- to 6|9 & some artists have 
10 1- or even 12 1-. Beef & mutton are lower than in 
Britain. Flour, although high at present, is generally 
lower than that which my father manufactures. Pota- 
toes pretty moderate & apples almost for nothing, 
even in the common market I could purchase a Bushel 
of the very best for 2|- Stg. 

*' When you read this you will be ready to conclude 
that a single person may board for almost nothing but 
I can assure you it is not so. These blessings so far as 

[28] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

I can see are all monopolized by the Householders. 
Keeping boarders is here a trade & if a man can have 
the good fortune to procure two or three Genteel 
boarders, as they are called, into his family he need 
not give himself much trouble about what are called 
habits of industry. If you lodge in a first rate Genteel 
boarding house you pay only 10 Dollars or45|- Stg. 
pr. Week, besides paying for your wine &c., if in a 
second rate 8 Dollars, if in a third rate 5 Dollars & this 
is the very lowest that any genteel person must pay. 
Happily for me I have lighted upon what I call Genteel 
Boarding, in a private family, for little more than the 
half of even the latter sum; but this must be kept a 
profound secret, for if it were known, my reputation, 
as a Gentleina7i .', would certainly be blasted, at least 
as long as I persisted in such a gross violation of estab- 
lished habits. 

"House rents are amazingly high, for a tolerably 
good one, if 2 Stories 35 or 40 feet in front, ,£100 Sterling 
pr. Annum. White servant girls have 6 Dollars or 27 |- 
Sterling pr. month and are nearly as proud as Lucifer; 
if you ask them to do the most trifling piece of service 
beyond what they choose to prescribe as the limits of 
their obligation it is ten to one if you do not get a flat 
refusal, at any rate saucy language. They go just 
about as fine on holidays as your demi Gentry. 

" Washing as I formerly mentioned is a heavy burden 
— this alone at an average cost are not less than 3|- Stg. 
pr. Week — Shoes are moderate in price but of a very 
bad quality. I have not had occasion to try them as 
yet myself, but have seen many pairs worn by others 
in a fortnight — they are reckoned very good if they 

[29] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

last three weeks & superlative if they see the end of 
the month. 

" Clothes are very high principally owing to Tailors 
wages — as a specimen — I gave to one of them four 
Vests to get shortened, — he executed the work in little 
more than an hour & his charge was only 1 1|4 Dollars 
(5 1 7 1|2 Stg.) Thus, for lack of better matter, I have 
given you a detail of matters which although unim- 
portant may be entertaining to you who have no 
opportunity of being acquainted with our manner of 
living on this side the Atlantic. 

" Your shirts will stand me in excellent stead in 
this place — indeed they are the only part of my clothing 
from which I can reap satisfaction. My clothes were 
not at all made suitable for this country. Breaches are 
never worn by the young men in this place & indeed 
only in a few instances by the old — a few days after I 
I came on shore I wore a pair of my best ones & 
thought myself a fellow of considerable appearance, 
but by & by I })erceived many people staring at me in 
so strange a manner that I was glad to j)ut on a pair, 
& indeed my only pair, of pantaloons. My coats & 
vests were at least a Century behind the fashion, and 
my coloured neckclothes entirely useless, nothing but 
white ones being worn here. My Breaches I mean 
to wear in Winter, for as every person at that time 
wears boots it will not be so much noticed. You will 
no doubt be by this time thinking that I am become 
quite the fashionable Buck, but I assure you it is dire 
necessity drives me to it. Had I but a few dressed in 
the same uniform to keep me in countenance I should 
not at all care, but I have no inclination to be stared 

[30] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

on by every one that I meet as if I were a creature of 
another species. 

" Present my respects to my father, Sisters & 
Brother, & believe me to be always very truly, Dr. 
Margt. 

"Yours J. J." 

John's absence from home did not weaken his sense 
of responsibility to his younger half-brothers and sis- 
ters, and he was constantly planning how the education 
of the boys might prepare them for a career in America, 
whither he intended to have them come at the earliest 
moment. He entreated Margaret to attend to their 
forming good mental and religious habits, reminding 
her that " Youth is the time to sow the good Seed. The 
first impressions are generally the most lasting . . . 
Let them indulge in no idle habits, they will grow 
upon them insensibly." He urged his father to give 
this matter serious consideration and begged to l)e 
told the progress each child was making in his studies. 
" I am exceedingly anxious that my Brothers & Sisters, 
but especially the former, should have a good educa- 
tion. I know from fatal experience that the ideas com- 
monly entertained on that subject, in the part of the 
country where we resided, were very erroneous. . . . 

" Now the truth is, and 1 am happy to think it will 
yet be in time for your other children, a knowledge of 
English Grammar is indispensably necessary to every 
person that would speak even his mother tongue with 
any kind of precision. The Latin, although not of 
great use, in common life, is yet so generally studied 
that it is reckoned vulgar to be without it, and besides, 
it greatly enlarges the knowledge of the English lan- 

[31] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

guage. The french is very necessary to a merchant, 
and like the Latin, is so generally understood that it 
cannot be well dispensed with; and one chief excellency 
in all these is that they may in youth be acquired with 
very little loss of time; the lessons being principally 
studied out of school. Had it been my good fortune 
to be situated where they were taught, I might have 
acquired them without the least prejudice to any of my 
other studies, fishing only excepted. 

" These observations I have made with a view to the 
Boys' coming out to America, if I be successful in busi- 
ness. Should you wish to keep any of them at home, 
or have any other thing in view for them, all this may 
not be necessary. I would like to know your views 
upon this subject. I presume that you are now better 
situated for Schools than you were at Barnboard, and 
therefore recommend that William and the Girls, if 
they have not already begun, be immediately put to 
the study of English Grammar with some master that 
perfectly understands it; — this need not retard them 
in reading writing or arithmetick, as they must learn 
their lessons at home. If the master teaches Latin 
also, & thinks that William is far enough advanced in 
English, I should like that he would begin to study 
that likewise; and I pray you be extremely careful 
that his hand be not spoiled by a bad writing master. 
I trust I shall be able to send you as much annually as 
will pay for his Books & School Wages. Write me 
very particularly what progress in learning they all 
have made, how you are situated for schools; what 
languages &c. are taught & what are the quarterly 
wages." 

[32] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

John's own spiritual life was also a matter of moment 
to him. This was still largely nourished by letters to 
and from his clergyman friend, Samuel Haining, to 
whom he wrote at this time a vivid description of his 
early religious experiences, the whole letter being here 
given, although part has already appeared in the 
previous chapter. 

8th Feby. 1805. 
"... You desire some account of the means by 
which I was first brought under concern for my soul. 
... I shall state, as briefly as possible, in what manner 
I was led stej) by step to think seriously of eternal 
things. — You know my mother was a i)ious woman 
who was at great pains early to impress upon my mind 
a knowledge of divine truth — at her earnest solicitation, 
I read the Bible & because I saw it gave her pleasure 
I actually became attached to it; and I recollect that I 
was much delighted to hear her talk of heavenly things 
& frequently slipt to her room door & listened whilst 
she was at prayer (and in these prayers I always heard 
myself warmly remembered) — I was very rigid too in 
the performance of what I called prayer & used regu- 
larly to repeat, morning & evening, certain forms 
which she taught me — so zealous was I in this duty 
that if I had omitted it in going to Bed I used to get 
up in the course of the night & kneel before my Bedside 
naked as I was, & repeat them. I was likewise very 
fond of learning & repeating Psalms & Hymns & 
used generally to say them over until I fell asleep. In 
this manner I acted until my mother's death, which 
happened when I was about 13 years of age, when 
being in a good measure left to my own government, 

[33] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

my goodness soon appeared to be like the morning 
Cloud or early Dew — I soon forgot all her good 
advices. 

" I still however had an insatiable thirst for reading 
but having no person to direct my choice of Books I 
unfortunately chose those that were least calculated 
for improvement, namely Romances, Novels, Plays & 
sometimes History — In fact I read promiscuously all 
that came to hand except religious Books, and for 
these I gradually lost all relish. In the year 1798, 
owing principally to your solicitations, I joined the 
Barnboard & Boreland Society of which I continued 
a member until I went to Kirkcudbt. to my apprentice- 
ship, in the fall of that year. — The only real advantage 
that I derived from this was the necessity it laid me 
under of reading religious Books, in order to find 
answers to the questions there proposed. 

" About this time also I had a fever which brought 
me nigh to the Gates of Death, I was in a delirium for 
a whole week & whilst in that state I well remember 
that one day I imagined myself in a deep Pit in the 
agonies of death. I saw my religious acquaintances 
stand at a distance upon the brink, as afraid to ap- 
proach me — I was solicitous that some of them should 
speak to me & at last I thought James Harris, then 
my schoolmaster, came near & enquired upon what I 
grounded my hopes of Eternal life. The question 
struck me, I was unable to answer it, Christ never once 
occurred to my thoughts & I said some incoherent 
things to my stepmother, then present, about purchas- 
ing a Proof Catechism & attending Mr. Fulton's School 
in order that I might be able to answer such questions 

[34] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

should they again occur. This cjuestion stuck in my 
mind a long while after my recovery & I believe was 
the means of stimulating me to make more diligent 
search after religious knowledge. 

" One day, previous to my departure for Kirkt., I 
was in Wm. Milroy's Smithy, when I happened to lay 
my hand upon a small tract, entitled ' friendly advice 
to all whom it may concern ' — in this tract the question 
was put, ' If you had died yesterday where would your 
soul have been at this moment ? ' I laid down the 
tract & considering my case was well assured that my 
soul should have been in Hell. 

" From this time I made some faint attempts at in- 
formation, and although I had many relapses yet I 
still inwardly had thoughts of working out my own 
salvation by the Law. I went to hear the Wesleyan 
Methodists then in Kirkcudbt., formed a Prayer meet- 
ing in conjunction with R. Hyslop, R. Carson, R. Niel 
&c. and conceived that I was making considerable 
progress when all at once my views were completely 
changed even when I least expected it. 

" The doctrine of Predestination was one with 
which I was almost entirely unacquainted- this doc- 
trine was broached by the Methodists, Predestination 
calmly considered was put into my hands, and, as was 
to be expected, I soon became a warm & decided 
Arminian. It is needless to expatiate upon the ardoi- 
with which I entered into this scheme & the violence 
with which I opposed the contrary opinions — suffice it 
to say that after many controversies with you & with 
other of my friends on this subject my Fortress began 
to totter; you put Booth into my hands who made a 

[35] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

grievous breach, and Elisha Cole razed it to the very 
foundation. 

" Being now destitute of all hope from this quarter 
I began seriously to consider my state, I began to dis- 
cover my former folly and to see that salvation was 
only to be found in Christ — I felt an inclination to 
trust in him alone for salvation and although my faith 
has been sometimes stronger sometimes weaker, my 
views sometimes clearer sometimes darker and although 
from the prevalence & growth of an inward body of Sin 
& Death I have been many times led to doubt whether 
I had indeed known him — yet I am inclined to adopt 
the language of his servant Job 'though he slay me 
yet will I trust in him.' " 

lie soon felt it to be a religious necessity as well 
as a duty to ally himself with some form of Christian 
worship and set himself about making such a connec- 
tion, writing to this same friend : 

"After I first came to this country I went, agree- 
ably to the plan which you know I had formed previous 
to my departure, and attentively heard a major part of 
those who are denominated Evangelical preachers. 1 
went even farther, being determined not to allow my- 
self to be blinded by prejudice, and heard some of those 
who are in Scotland called Methodists, but finding 
none that in my opinion came nearer the model of a 
Church of Christ as delineated in the New Testament, 
than that under the pastoral care of Mr. Mason I have 
accordingly joined in communion with it. 

" In Mr. M's congregation there are three or four 
praying Societies of one of which I likewise am an 
unworthy member. Their mode of procedure is much 

[36] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

the same as that of those with which I was connected 
ere I left Scotland." 

This noted preacher, the Rev. John M. Mason, 
was, in 1804, the pastor of the Scotch Presbyterian 
Church in Cedar Street. With his congregation John 
Johnston decided to worship and he had always there- 
after the deepest admiration for him. Later, in 1810, 
after the Presbytery had refused to build a new edifice 
for him. Dr. Mason resigned from the Scotch Church 
and founded a new organization, situated in Murray 
Street. He was intimately associated with public men, 
preaching the funeral sermon of Alexander Hamilton 
and delivering a famous oration on Washington before 
the Society of the Cincinnati. Professor Silliman of 
Yale thus describes him: 

" Tall, erect, of fine symmetry of form, with a per- 
fect muscular development, a noble, intellectual head 
and strongly marked features, on every line of which 
mind was stamped, with the graceful air of a high-bred 
gentleman of the old school, and with the bearing of a 
man who could not be unconscious of his own talents 
and fame — elegantly dressed, but with chaste simplicity 
— as he entered the room all rose from their seats to 
greet and welcome the pride of New York." 

From the hour of his arrival John Johnston was a 
keen and intelligent observer of the customs and con- 
ditions of his new country. He was favorably im- 
pressed with its democratic institutions and had not 
been here six months before he wrote, " I believe every 
person who has resided in this country even for a short 
time must confess that it is so far superior to Britain 

[37] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

that generally speaking they will bear no compar- 
ison." 

His early letters are full of lively accounts of what- 
ever seemed interesting in the life about him — political 
events, industrial conditions, religious sects, etc., — and 
were all carefully copied in his numerous letter books 
before being sent to his friends in Scotland. Extracts 
from a number of those written during his first year in 
America are introduced w ithout further comment, trust- 
ing th[it as they are descriptive of an early period in the 
history of the republic their insertion is justified. 
On government and religion: 

" In this Country the people enjoy in an eminent 
degree the benefits resulting from a good Government. 
Here equality is established upon the best possible 
principle — that of equal importance in the Common- 
wealth. The poorest Citizen has his vote for the rulers 
of the Land, & his vote is of as much weight as the 
richest of his neighbours' — here you may either speak 
or write your sentiments with the utmost freedom & 
boldness respecting all the movements of Government; 
their sentiments upon this subject being that there 
must be a fault somewhere in that Government which 
will not allow a free & open discussion of its procedure; 
&: indeed this liberty so far from stirring up plots 
against it seems to establish it upon the best possible 
foundation — the abjection of the jjeople. 

" To say the truth this country is very much mis- 
represented on your side of the water, being talked of 
as a place not only destitute of many of these temporal 
conveniences which are enjoyed in Britain, but like- 
wise of that invaluable blessing the means of Grace, 

[38] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

as enjoyed under a Gospel ministry. Both of these 
reports are equally false, and with regard to the latter 
I believe I will not exceed the bounds of truth in 
asserting that the part of it which I have seen is at 
least equal if not superior, in point of religious oppor- 
tunities to any nation in the world. The number of 
churches in this city is almost beyond credibility." 
On thieves and beggars : 

" The Laws are mild & gentle — so mild indeed 
that there has not been for many years an instance of 
an individual suffering in this state by the hands of the 
public executioner. 

" Thefts, so far as I can learn, are very seldom com- 
mitted & when they are, the culprit is confined for 
such a time as the court thinks fit in a large building 
called the State prison, where he is made to work for 
his own maintenance, and if after repeated trials he 
seem hardened & determined to persevere in his evil 
courses, he is confined for life. This plan whilst it 
lops off the rotten branches from the community, at 
the same time saves them from having their feelings 
shocked by seeing a fellow creature brought to an 
untimely Grave, or their property burdened by sup- 
porting them in needless idleness. 

" The Government is easily maintained, the taxes 
low & wages high. The people are consequently free 
from another burden which I conceive falls heavy upon 
the middling & lower orders of people in Scotland: 
namely an immense number of common Beggars. No 
such thing is to be seen here — indeed it would be a 
shame if there were, as every person who is able to 
work can find plenty of employment . . . 

[39] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

" To say the truth I see none harder put to their 
shifts than those of my own insignificant profession, 
who generally wish to assume the appearance of 
Gentlemen without having the means." 

Jerome Bonaparte's return to France: 

"About the beginning of June [1804] two French 
Frigates, the Didon & Cybelle came to this Port for the 
purpose of conveying home Mons. Jerome Bone., the first 
Consul's Brother, — He had just got on board with his 
Lady, — an American, whom he married since his 
arrival, when to their consternation the British Frigate 
Cambrimi & The Driver Sloop of War appeared in 
the mouth of the river. This so scared poor Bone., 
although the superiority both with regard to men & 
Guns was greatly on his side, that the same night he 
quietly disembarked his baggage, of which Madame 
Jerome may be reckoned a part, & slunk up to the 
City. To make the matter still worse, the Driver being 
since gone, the Boston has succeeded her, a Frigate of 
32 Guns, so to all appearance the poor frencli are re- 
duced to the dreadful alternative of either fighting or 
laying in the Harbor.— It does my heart good to see 
the cowardly Poltroons lying close alongside the 
Battery whilst our brave countrymen, although inferior 
in force, are cruising off the Harbor and daring them 
to come out." . . . "November 30. The French Frigates 
mentioned in my last, I am sorry to say, have, notwith- 
standing the vigilance of the British Cruisers, made 
their escape. In order to effect this they were under 
the necessity of passing through Hell Gate, a narrow & 
dangerous sound at the head of Long Island, which 
has made it proverbial, amongst the Anti-Democrats, 

[40] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

that the French would rather enter the Gate of Hell 
than meet with the British." 

Advice to a friend about to come to America : 

*' I shall now, as well as I am able, give you advice 
preparatory to your Voyage — first with regard to your 
mental accomplishments; — you must be studious to 
acquire as complete a knowledge of the English lan- 
guage as the time will admit of — be not ashamed to 
speak good english, as the most of our countrymen are, 
but study on all occasions to pronounce correctly & 
construct Grammatically. I felt severe mortification 
on my first arrival on account of a deficiency in both 
these, as they are much attended to here. I pray you 
attend particularly to writing a plain hand and to 
spelling correctly; give me leave to tell you that in the 
latter acquirement you are still a little deficient, — nor 
must you think it beneath your notice to attend to the 
little punctilio of making a genteel bow & entering a 
company gracefully; — you will be introduced into some 
good company here, & much depends upon the first 
impression. 

" Your clothes must not be made in the country stile, 
but as near the London fashions, which are generally 
prevalent here, as possible; mine were entirely lost on 
account of awkward Tailorship; — it may be even 
worth your while to go to Dumfries in order to have 
them well made — (You may perhaps think these are 
foppish or foolish observations, but upon your arrival 
here you will see their propriety.) I wish some friend 
had given me the same hints previous to my departure, 
as it would have saved me a good deal of money; & 
more mortification. 

[41] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

"Clothing being greatly cheaper with you than 
here you may, if your father can afford it, bring out 
two fine Cloth Coats, hlack & blue, and one Coatee; 
Two pair of Cloth Pantaloons to match the Coats; 
One pair Cassimere Breaches, the Waistbands to come 
at least above your middle; or say near your armpits, 
From four to six vests, made short to match the Panta- 
loons and Breaches; some flannel vests & Drawers; 
one pair Suwarrow & one pair back strap Top Boots; 
two or three pair Shoes and as many shirts & muslin 
Neckcloths as you please . . . 

"Nankeens can be bought cheaper here than with 
you. You therefore need not trouble yourself about 
them, neither need you bring any coloured neck cloths, 
none of that description being here worn." 
Admonition to a friend: 

"I never shall lend a hand towards making you a 
hypocrite, & therefore my advice is that if you cannot 
write on religion you write on something else. Sup- 
pose now for instance you begin your letter by inform- 
ing him of your safe arrival & of your intention to 
have written him sooner had you not been prevented 

by . Next describe the place in a Geographical 

Moral & Religious point of view — you can be very 
particular in mentioning the number of places of wor- 
ship, how the people attend & whether they are re- 
ligiously disposed, then go on to state how you like 
your situation & how you spend your time & close 
with Compliments to Mrs. McClea etc." 
On Methodists: 

" The Methodists are much more numerous & 
rapidly increasing; — but their conversions are attended 

[42] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

with SO much uproar & confusion that 1 cannot help 
being, with respect to them, a little sceptical. 

" It really gives a handle to the Enemies of the Cross 
to blaspheme & hurts the minds of serious Christians 
to hear of their indecent & ridiculous Gestures & ex- 
})ressions on such occasions. The work generally 
begins after the minister has ended his sermon & has 
come down from the Pulpit — One, or perhaj)s two, 
begins to pray, in a little while a number will begin 
to sing, others to utter broken exclamations & ejacu- 
lations, leai)ing upon the Seats, gathering round & 
sometimes even beating u})on the persons whom they 
wish to convert, which together with the dreadful 
ideas of hell & Damnation which are impressed upon 
their minds, not unfrequently has the effect to frighten 
them into Ilystericks; — in short a scene of riot & con- 
fusion takes place which is much more easy for you to 
conceive than for me to describe; and this is all ascribed 
to the spirit of God! I had almost said that to ascribe 
this to the Spirit of God was blasphemy, but I forbear. 

"That there are a great number of serious & 
Godly men amongst the Methodists I do firmly believe, 
and how they can countenance & defend such enormi- 
ties is what much astonishes me." 

Eighteen months after leaving home John Johnston 
was able to send William Johnston a note, which repaid 
his loan of £23, with interest, and left a small balance. 
This he wished expended in the best "Congo" and 
presented in his name to his stepmother. As time 
went on, he continued to send presents home — "braws" 
for the girls, books for the boys, a dress for his step- 

[43] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

mother — all of them small, but thoughtful, kindly 
gifts. 

One of his customs, started when he first began to 
earn money, was to give, conscientiously, one-tenth of 
his yearly income to the poor, and he adhered faith- 
fully to this principle even in these early days, when a 
small sum of money was very important to him. 

After a couple of years he had saved enough to 
make some small "adventures," shipping raisins and 
cheeses to New Orleans to be disposed of by James 
Johnston, a brother of William and George, and im- 
porting watches from Kirkcudbright — "a dashing ar- 
ticle," he wrote, "is the thing for this market no matter 
what be its quality." The business sagacity with which 
these early affairs were handled gave promise of his 
commercial success in later years. His next transac- 
tion was more important. In 1808 he sent "600 
Spanish milled dollars" to be invested in Calcutta by 
the supercargo of one of Lenox & Maitland's ships, 
appropriately named the Galloivay. This was his first 
large venture and yielded him $300 profit. 

About this time he began to consider his future 
prospects and to debate with himself as to the best 
course to pursue. To one of his friends in Scotland he 
wrote, "I used to look forward to this period as the 
one in which I should attain unto almost absolute 
happiness," but a feeling of uncertainty as to the 
future made him add later: "A wish naturally per- 
vades the breast of every prudent person to look be- 
yond the present even in temporal things. I am now 
in the vigor of youth and whilst my summer lasts I 
ought to prepare for winter. That I may be enabled 

[44] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

to visit my native country with a small competence 
and spend my last days in peace amongst my friends 
is the bounds of my ambition." James Johnston had 
made him an offer of $1,200 a year to join him in busi- 
ness in New Orleans, and although grateful to Mr. Lenox 
for his interest and kindness, John was tempted to 
accept it. He delayed his decision, writing: "There 
are some in Newyork to whose friendship I owe much 
& by whose counsel I wish to be guided (you will 
easily guess that your bror. & Messrs. L & M are the 
persons alluded to) and as I have not yet learned how 
some of them will relish it I must be contented to rest 
in suspense a little longer." 

Before the winter of 1808 was over, Mr. Maitland 
promised that if the times should warrant sending the 
Galloway out to Bombay, they would offer John the 
supercargoship, which would be worth from $2,000 
to $3,000. As the voyage would take only one year, 
John thought the offer a good one and consequently 
relinquished for the time being all other projects. 

One of Lenox & Maitland's chief reasons for hesi- 
tating to send the Galloway to India was the disturbed 
state of commerce due to the strained relations with 
England. The second war of independence was yet 
to be fought and England was doing all she could to 
bring it on by sending men-of-war to cruise the high 
seas and overhaul our vessels. We were also being 
hectored by the French, who were constantly molest- 
ing our ships. To protect our sailors and in the hope 
of avoiding war Jefferson, on December 22, 1807, 
had issued the Embargo Act, prohibiting the sailing 
of ships from the United States to foreign ports. 

[45] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

The effect of this act on the country, is well described 
in the following extract from a letter of February 10, 
1808: "The Democratic mob, which predominates in 
this Government, has been loud for a War with Great 
Britain, a measure which would most unquestionably 
have proved ruinous to the commercial part of the 
Community. An Embargo which was laid on about 
six weeks ago, & which still continues, has however 
done w^onders in restoring them to sanity. Hunger is a 
Potent reasoner & many of these very ragamuffins who 
were bellowing for bloodshed & eternal war rather 
than submit to immaginary insults, are now, convinced 
by dint of his arguments, mild & gentle as lambs, and 
praying for a repeal of the Embargo & a renewal of 
our intercourse upon any terms. 

"The truth is that this country swarms with an 
Irish Banditti, who having been robbers & murderers 
at home & thereby exposed to the just chastisement 
of the laws, have fled to this country for refuge, cher- 
ishing the most deadly enmity against G. Britain. 
They are here received with open arms as Persecuted 
for the cause of liberty . . . 

"Fortunately however they display as little economy 
here as they do at home, and although wages are high, 
yet they are still in poverty, & consequently are the 
very first to feel the baneful effects of their own coun- 
sels. 

"So it is in the present instance, — business is sus- 
pended, — they are in a state of starvation, — the Poor's 
house & every other public Charity in this City is 
crowded, & many hundreds yet un})rovided for & 
living upon the liberality of the Public. If such are 

[46] 



BEGINNINGS IN NEW YORK 

the effects of a temporary suspension of commerce, 
what would the effects of a War be!" He added, with 
the pride of a quite new" American, "If you go to war 
with us from whence do you intend to draw your 
suppHes?" 

In May of the same year he gave this account of the 
situation : 

"The Government has been bullied by the french, 
and, I am sorry to say it, bullied by the English until, 
in order to avoid a war with the one or the other, or 
perhaps with both, it has been under the necessity of 
laying an Embargo in all the American Ports which 
has continued since the ;2'2nd Decemr. What effects 
this measure may ultimately produce it is impossible 
to say; but at present it has produced abundance of 
distress. There being no vent for produce of any kind 
it lies rotting in the stores; the Shi})s are laid up in 
Port & the Sailors thrown upon the charity of the pub- 
lic; commerce is entirely suspended & consequently 
innumerable clerks, mechanicks, & laborers dependant 
thereon, [are] deprived of the means of subsisting 
themselves & their families — there is however some 
consolation in reflecting that we have provisions 
enough in the country, «Jc whilst that is the case we 
will scarcely starve." 

Now followed a year of uncertainty and weary 
waiting for the embargo to be raised, which, however, 
did not take place until March, 1809. John did not 
waste his time, but wrote to his father: "As the 
french language seems to bid fair for becoming uni- 
versal, I now dedicate every spare minute to its study. 
... I have removed into a French boarding House for 

[47] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

the purpose of acquiring the language with greater 
facility; you would be much amused to see me sitting 
at table with 18 or 20 ugly looking fellows with huge 
whiskers, swallowing french soups & Ragouts, amidst 
the delightful perfumes of onions & Garlick. I pay 
<£100 pr. annum for my Board & have a room to 
myself." 

He devoted some time also to amusement, having 
fine sport on the ice while engaged in the Scotch 
pastime of "curling," and wrote William Johnston 
that he had become a tolerable player, asking, "Pray 
what would a handsome stone cost fitted complete, 
with 'Kirkcudbright' engraved on it?" 



CHAPTER III 
VOYAGES TO INDIA 

1809-1811 

THE coninierce of tlie count ry once more })eing 
considered safe, Lenox & Maitland concluded 
to send the Galloway back to India, and John 
prepared for his important position as supercargo. 
This was a great res})onsibility for a young man of 
only twenty-eighty and the letter of instructions he 
received is worth quoting as an interesting commercial 
document of the times as well as an expression of his 
employers' confidence in his judgment and integrity. 

"J. Lenox & W. Maitland, New York, to 
John Johnston, Supercargo. 

7 May, 1809. 
"Dear Sir: 

"As joint owners of the Ship Galloway with our 
friend Mr. Robert Lenox, and Ship's husbands, we 
have to address you on the subject of your charge as 
Supercargo of this Vessel; and we promise that we 
have great satisfaction in believing that it is only 
necessary, as in the present instance it is indeed only 
practicable, to give the outline of our scheme, that 

[49] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

from your sound, correct judgment, and the full 
verbal conversation we have had, you will be enabled 
to act in the case equal to one of ourselves. The 
voyage we propose is to Bombay with the cargo she 
has on board, where we expect it will answer well, 
from thence to Mocha for a load of Coffee, intending 
with the same to return immediately to this port. We 
do not foresee any difficulty in accomplishing our 
object. We naturally presume from the state of Europe, 
as well as this Country for a length of time, that Coffee 
must be abundant, and unusually low at Mocha — 
indeed we shoidd not be sur})rised you found it plenty 
at Bombay and be enabled, especially with the aid of 
part pej)per to procure a cargo there that may be de- 
sirable, and supersede the necessity of proceeding 
further. But on this head, as well as generally what 
it may be prudent to adopt, you will be able to obtain 
full information at Bombay. 

"You have a letter from our friend Mr. Ilogan to 
Nasserwanjee Monackjee, Sett, a Dubark, or man of 
l)usiness, a Native, to whom it is preferable to aj^ply 
than to any European house — indeed they themselves 
employ them. Nasserwanjee is reputed a person in his 
line of the highest respectability. You will therefore 
immediately call u})on him. He will assist you in your 
Custom House business, and advise as to the best 
mode of disposing of your cargo. Such a one as the 
Galloway has on board may in general be got rid of 
in an hour, to the Naval Store Keeper of the Crown, 
or the Marine Store Keeper of the Com})any — but 
perha})s it may be more advantageous to dispose of it 
otherwise. Native or European Merchants may prob- 

[50] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

ably give more for it than Public Departments. The 
Dubark however, will be master of this subject. He 
will also know at once whether a return cargo of 
Coffee, or Pej^per, both or either, can be had at Bom- 
bay, and if it is found necessary for the Ship to proceed 
to Mocha, will be enabled to give the needful informa- 
tion as to the mode of doing business there, as also U) 
furnish letters to persons who may be useful. Business 
in Bombay we are led to believe is done with great 
facility and dispatch, and is attended with less expense 
than in almost any other port in India. The Native 
agent has usually 2^ pr. Ct. on sales and purchases, 
which he is supposed fully to earn. It will however, 
of course be proper to come first to an understanding 
on this head, in order to prevent anything like a dis- 
agreement afterwards. 

"Your funds we expect will be ample, having in 
addition to Cargo, Fifty thousand Dollars s})ecie. 
Indeed if the outward Cargo sells, and that in return 
is laid in, as we conceived we have some ground to 
expect, you nmst have a considerable surplus. This 
surplus if not of great importance had better be dis- 
posed of in some articles of value, and little bulk — 
Say Drugs of a description well understood, or any 
other articles you may better approve of. But if your 
extra funds should amount to a sum of moment, and 
you see nothing advisable to invest them in on the spot, 
then we would recommend your remitting them to 
Calcutta to Ram Dalol Day, to be laid out in such 
goods as from the best of his information he may judge 
for our interest, and the same ship, giving us due 
advice for insurance, to any port in the U. States, pre- 

[51] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

ferring of course New York. Your compensation, as 
understood, will be Two thousand Dollars paid in 
Bombay, with five tons privilege. 

"We know not that we have much further to say 
on this subject, though important. As we have already 
stated we have the greatest reliance in your ability, 
zeal and attachment to the interest you have in charge, 
and we must necessarily, from the nature of the under- 
taking, leave much to your discretion. Not doubting 
the result will prove this confidence to be well placed 
and with faith also that the Voyage will terminate 
profitably and satisfactorily to all parties, we are with 
best wishes for your health and very sincere regard 
"Dear Sir — Your obt. Servants 

"J. Lenox & W. Maitland." 

Before starting on this hazardous voyage John 
"insured" his adventure, writing to his father: 

"It may not be amiss to mention that my Bureau, 
papers, & that part of my clothes which will not be 
wanted in India, or on the voyage, are left in the pos- 
session of Messrs. Lenox & Maitland, as will be 
policies of Insurance on my adventure pr. the Gallo- 
way. I will likewise leave written instructions how 
my small property is to be disposed of in case of any 
accident happening to me before my return." 

On May 20, 1809, he set sail and began his 
"Journal," in which he recorded that "The Ships 
Company consists of The Captain, two Mates, Boat- 
swain, Carpenter, Sailmaker, Cook, Steward, & Eleven 
Seamen say in all Nineteen, exclusive of myself." No 
sooner had they passed Sandy Hook, which took them 

[52] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

three days, than nearly all the "seamen" became sea- 
sick and the Captain discovered that very few of them 
had ever been on the ocean before. 

John kept a full account of this leisurely voyage to 
the Orient. Being intent on improving his French, 
he wrote his journal in that language, using formal 
and stilted verbs, as for instance, when he described 
the harpooning of a "Goulu" (shark) "lequel nous 
empoignames" or when he said "nous decouvrimes 
deux grands vaisseaux." After a month in which they 
made little progress, he remarked pathetically, "Je 
suis bien fatigue de repeter toujours qu'il y a un temps 
calme, mais nonobstant il Test encore"! 

Notwithstanding the calm, which naturally made 
the time hang heavily on their hands, they had some 
amusing incidents, especially, when, as he wrote, one 
of the sows " nous a donne sept cochons de lait," or 
when the cook, having forgotten to prepare the cabin 
dinner, "re(^'u une application de vingt coups (deux de 
chacun des matelots) d'une petite planche a la croupe." 
This punishment was repeated whenever he spoilt a 
meal. On days when the water was smooth John and 
the Captain had a boat lowered "et ramcrent autour 
du Batiment pour voir comment il se porta." Once 
they had a "fausse bataille," firing five salvos of all 
their artillery to train the sailors in the use of arms. 

They were in a constant state of apprehension lest 
they should meet a French frigate, and even the sight 
of an English flag did not completely reassure them, 
as this was often used as a ruse and another flag sub- 
stituted at the last moment. Accordingly they were 
rather alarmed by the approach of a large vessel which, 

[53] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

however, turned out to be a Portuguese brigantine on 
its way to Rio de Janeiro with a cargo of slaves. A 
fatal malady had already carried off fifty-two of the 
poor wretches, but five hundred and twenty-four were 
still packed in the hold. John sent all his home letters 
through the Portuguese Captain, — a roundabout way 
of getting them delivered in New York — and the 
Captain presented him by the return boat with a few 
oranges and a small box of sugar plums. 

Finally, on September 9th, the Galloway ap- 
proached land, and believing that he was near Bom- 
bay, but not being sure on account of the fog, the 
Captain sent the first officer and five men ashore in a 
boat to ascertain. After anxiously awaiting their re- 
turn for twenty-four hours, he gave up all hope of ever 
seeing the men again and was weighing anchor, wdien 
a large native "Prow" appeared with the boat in tow. 
It was then explained that the Rajah in whose province 
they had landed had put the men under guard im- 
mediately upon arrival, but being finally "convinced 
that they were English he used them with great civility 
giving them victuals and sending the Prow with a pilot 
to conduct [the Galloway] to Bombay." 

That afternoon, September 10, 1809, the one 
hundred and eleventh day of their voyage, John John- 
ston and Captain Pray landed in Bombay. The entry 
in John's journal gives a vivid description of his first 
hours on Indian soil: 

" At 12 o'clock we were almost abreast of Bombay 
when a Pilot came off & desired us to lay too until the 
governor's permission should be obtained for our com- 
ing in — a horde of officers from the Custom House 

[54] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

marine office, & Garrison shortly after hoarded us to 
whom I was ohhged to furnish Manifests of the Cargo, 
lists of the Seamen &c. &:c, 

"About 2 o'clock went ashore, accompanied by 
Captain Pray & immediately was surrounded with a 
whole Legion of Umbrella men, with the greatest 
difficulty after employing one, I made my way for a 
few paces, when it was literally blocked up by Palan- 
quins — into one I was forced to get, & the Captain 
having got into another we were carried to Nasserwan- 
jee's. Here we were introduced, after passing through 
a number of splendid apartments, to the great man 
reclining u})on his So})ha like an Eastern Prince, he 
treated us with great civility & seated us by him — 
after transacting the preliminary business with Nasser- 
wanjee we were carried to the House of the Intendant 
of Marines where we were likewise received with great 
civility, I had previously sent him a file of American 
Newspapers for which he returned many thanks & 
desired we would command him in whatever he could 
be made useful. — at 6 o'clock we again returned on 
board the Ship." 

On their return to the ship it was found that "The 
Capt. of the Iphigcnia Frigate has been on board & 
impressed two Seamen . . . both Americans, but who 
had no protections." John visited the Captain and 
remonstrated, but to no effect and never succeeded in 
having the seamen restored. 

As it was impossible to })rocure any boarding place 
on shore and equally impossible to transact Mr. 
Johnston's business from the ship, he rented a house 
and transferred the necessary furnishings from the 

[53] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

vessel. A letter to Samuel Haining gives an account 
of his household, together with the Eastern customs 
that struck him as the most strange; it repeats the 
account of his landing with so much spirit that the 
letter is quoted entire. 

"I arrived at Bombay on a Sunday & went on 
shore in the midst of a shower of rain. No sooner did 
my foot touch the ground than I was surrounded with 
a legion of umbrella men, who all eagerly offered their 
services. It was in vain that I urged my ability to 
carry my own umbrella, & brandished it in my defence, 
I was soon disarmed, and a dozen competitors in suc- 
cession erected their standard over my head. In order 
to put an end to the contest I selected one & by his 
assistance made my way for about twenty yards when 
my passage was literally blocked up with Palanquins; 
into one I was forced to get hoping thus to avoid perse- 
cution; but my hopes were vain, the other bearers 
pushed mine away, insisting that the Palanquin was 
not so good as theirs & that I should therefore change 
it. Seeing no prospect of a termination to this dispute, 
and my patience being fairly exhausted, I got out & 
used a few arguments in the old Oxonian stile, which 
were so perfectly convincing that I was suffered to 
proceed without farther molestation. 

"Next day I hired a house for the transaction of 
my business, & desired a native agent to procure me 
the necessary number of servants, and how many do 
you think he employed, why truly no fewer than 
seventeen! I was amazed when this retinue made its 
appearance, and demanded what I was to do with 
them all; he told me I had not one too many, & so I 

[56] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

afterwards found it, for every one had his own province 
out of which he would not do the smallest service. One, 
for instance, would carry water to wash your hands; 
but that once done, nothing could prevail on him again 
to touch it; — a second calls himself doorkeeper & will 
do nothing but open the door in the morning, stand 
by it all day & shut it at night; — a third can sweep the 
House & rub the furniture, but cannot brush your 
coat or clean your shoes; — the Pjdanquin bearers would 
sooner leave your service than touch a dish that had 
been on your table; & so on with all the rest. 

"These regulations are made l)y the Brahmins & 
nujy be considered as a remarkable stroke of Policy 
for the population of India is so immense that were 
the natives permitted to perform indiscriminate service, 
a great })roportion of the lower casts nuist necessarily 
perish for want of Employment. The Europeans have 
so zealously gone into this custom that they keep a 
native for every, even the most trifling service; 1 saw 
many whose sole business was morning & evening to 
lead out a Dog! and no European, Soldiers & Sailors 
excepted, appears in the Street without his Palanquin 
& Umbrella following in rear, whether he intends to 
use them or not, which requires at least five, sometimes 
nine servants. 

"The wages paid ordinary servants are only 13|6 
Stg. pr. month, from which they have to find themselves 
& their families in food, and yet strange to tell! they 
save money; & stranger still, the money so saved is 
laid out in clumsy silver rings which however painful 
or inconvenient, they wear on their bare arms, in- 
tending that when they die the rings may purchase 

[57] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

wood to consume the body. They generally go naked, 
with the exception of a Hkf passed between the thighs 
& fastened to a Girdle. They are perpetually quarrel- 
ing & will bawl at one another by the hour, but seldom 
come to blows; if they do, it is only a stroke with the 
open hand which I never saw returned. Every thing 
is here performed by manual labor, a Horse & Cart 
I suppose was never seen in the place — it is not there- 
fore uncommon to see a number of these poor wretches 
staggering along with the mast ... of a 74 on their 
shoulders. . . . 

"The Persians of the Sect of Zoroaster are very 
numerous in Bombay, & every morning & evening 
are to be seen without the walls in hundreds pros- 
trating themselves in religious adoration before the 
Sun. I had several conversations with them, and 
found that their opinions are by no means so absurd 
as they are generally represented. Their ideas of 
God, of the Creation, the Deluge, Heaven & Hell are 
nearly the same with our own; as are likewise their 
views of the moral duties. They perform frequent 
ablutions after the manner of the jews, shave the head 
& chin, but suffer the beard to grow on the upper lip; 
dress in long muslin Robes, some-what resembling the 
the long-waisted Gowns of our Grandmothers, & 
wear turbans. 

" I drank tea twice at the House of a Persee merchant 
with whom I had some dealings, and never before saw 
apartments so spacious or furniture so splendid. The 
Persees drank from Silver Cuj)s of a peculiar structure, 
which they suffered not to touch their lips, that being 
reckoned an abomination, and immediately after the 

[58] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

repast they carefully washed their mouths: — this they 
never omit not even after drinking a Glass of wine. 
My table, for every Guest had his own table, was 
furnished with China &c. the whole of which I was 
afterwards told would be destroyed as polluted & 
unfit for use; for they never eat or drink out of a vessel 
after it has been used by a European . . . 

"Their women are kept in the greatest privacy & 
never suffered to appear before strangers. Once how- 
ever I was, by the mistake of the servant, introduced 
while they were in the room. I spoke but they did not 
seem to understand me, & retired with seeming con- 
fusion. They were dressed with a profusion of jewels 
& ornaments but their clothes hung on them in a loose 
inelegant manner, and some of them had large Gold 
rings stuck into their nose, which made them per- 
fectly frightful. They marry very young & the bargain 
is uniformly made by the parents without consulting 
the parties. In this House I saw a young couple, the 
husband appeared to be about four & the wife three 
years of age! By their law the Girls mi(sf be married 
before they are 9 years old!" 

Nasserwanjee was a highly educated and intelligent 
Parsee. John and he had long talks about this sect, 
and the latter spent part of a forenoon "relating the 
particulars of the first emigration of his caste from 
Persia; the former ambition & riches, but present pov- 
erty & wretchedness of their Padries, or Priests, who 
are supported principally by charity and are prohib- 
ited from marrying out of their own cast so that their 
misery becomes hereditary, & continually increases 
as their numbers increase." 

[59] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

The Parsee felt a sense of responsibility toward 
these poorer brethren, as John had the opportunity of 
witnessing before long. " Passing this man's office one 
morning I observed a crowd at the door & stepping in 
found all his Clerks busy in distributing ready made 
clothing; he told me it was the Persee New Years Day 
at which time he had long been in the habit of distrib- 
uting among the poor about 2,000 Rupees (<£250 
Sterlg.) in clothes & money. The other Persee mer- 
chants, I was informed, made similar distributions 
according to their circumstances." 

The two men became warm friends, corresponded 
for a number of years, and the American thereafter 
had a portrait of the East Indian hanging in his New 
York dining-room. The latter showed him many at- 
tentions, frequently sending him fruit, flowers, kegs of 
mangoes, etc., and once presenting him with "a very 
large He-goat." 

John drove out in Nasserwanjee's carriage to his 
country house, "a Superb Palace" surrounded by 
beautiful grounds. The Parsee's son treated him with 
"a collation of fruits &c," but did not eat with him 
himself, and "when he drank rolled a Hkf round his 
hand to prevent it from touching the Glass." This 
matter-of-fact Scotsman seemed to enjoy to a sur- 
prising degree drinking tea "in the Garden by the 
side of a delightful Pond, the Oranges hanging over 
head & ready to drop into the cups." The English 
residents, as well, did all that they could to make his 
stay pleasant, their entertainments being "set out 
with all the Luxuries of the East & served with Eastern 
splendor." 

[GO] 




XASSERWAXJKK M( )X.\( KJKE 



SETT 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

The business dealings, however, were not so agree- 
able: "It is extremely difficult to push any business 
in this place as many of the Native merchants reside 
in the country & do not come to Town before 10 or 
11 o'clock — they carry the Keys of their respective 
Godowns in their Pockets which prevents their Clerks 
& Coolies even from delivering Goods until they ai-e 
present. The greatest difficulties however is with the 
latter mentioned Gentlemen who uniformly prefer 
sitting on their hams to working — they can scarcely be 
collected before 1|2 past 10 o'clock, they break off 
again at 5, & should I in the interval step out of the 
door for a moment the business remains in statu quo 
until my return. ... It is impossible to do any business 
with the Persees & Banians without seemins: to be in 
a passion, . . . but when you seem to get into a passion, 
the more violent the better, it generally brings the 
business to a speedy conclusion. . . . Cheating is here 
reduced to a System. A Gentoo merchant is not at 
all ashamed when you delect his weights light or his 
measures short." 

At the same time that he was making every eft'ort 
to sell his American goods to advantage, he was also 
purchasing his return cargo, and it was hard for him 
to decide which of these transactions was the more 
unsatisfactory and exasperating. The native merchants 
bought the brandy and gin readily, but Mr. Johnston 
had much difficulty in disposing of his tar and spars. 

The story of his efforts in this direction is told by 
extracts from his journal : 

"Sept. 12th. Called at Nasserwanjee's — found that 
he had seen the Marine agent who considers our quan- 

[Gl] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

tity of Tar much too large for this market. — He how- 
ever wishes to know the price at which I hold it. After 
some conversation & reference to Nasserwanjee's 
former sales, directed him to ask 20 Rupees pr Bbl for 
the whole. Went to the King's & the Company's 
yards to see some spars brought by the late Ships from 
Europe in order to fix the price of my own — returned 
to N-Wanjee's who promised to procure the prices 
from the Company's Books. 

"Sept. 14th. In the afternoon received permission 
from the Governor to discharge our cargo but we can- 
not begin until we receive the Marine Intendant's 
answer to an offer we have made him of the Naval 
Stores — say the Tar at 20 Rupees pr. Bbl & the Spars 
from 160 to 240 Rupees as in size. 

"Sept. 16th. Mr. Dundas (the Kings commissioner) 
sent for Nasserwanjee and after a long conversation 
respecting our cargo, in which he did not fail to under- 
value the Naval Stores of which it is composed, promised 
to make an offer for the whole or a }:)art on Tuesday 
morning. 

"Sept. 19th. Called on Mr. Dundas by his appoint- 
ment to receive his definitive answer respecting the Tar 
& Spars, when after pronouncing an eulogy on Arch- 
angel Tar & Rigo Spars, & stigmatizing those of 
America as comparatively good for nothing, he in- 
formed me that he declined purchasing; it was in vain 
that I represented the impossibility of obtaining a 
supply from the Baltic in the present situation of 
Europe. He continued absolutely to decline the Tar 
at any price, but said he might jx'rhaps take a feiv of 
the spars if the prices were greatly reduced. As a last 

[62] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

resource made an offer of the Tar to the Governor at 
15 Rupees pr. Barrel, or if he prefers it, to barter for 
Malabar Pepper at 80 Rupees pr. Candy. 

"Sept. S'^nd. No answer from the Governor re- 
specting our Tar. I how feel great uneasiness on that 
account. 

"Sept. 23rd. Went to the Secretary's office to learn 
whether the Governor had communicated any thing 
to him respecting an answer to my Note of 19th Inst. — 
he said that I would have an answer in the course of 
the day; & that he believed the Governor declined the 
Tar. Waited impatiently for the answer all day but 
received none. 

"Sept. 25tli. Received a Letter from the Secretary 
stating that the Governor declined the Tar & had no 
Pepper for sale — called on Mr. Dundas respecting the 
spars & received the same shuffling kind of an answer 
as formerly that it was likely he might take some of 
them at a loiv price but he did not know how many or 
of what size — he would examine & let me know &c. 

"Sept. 27th. Was exceedingly mortified to find 
that a person who had been treating for the Barter of 
Piece Goods agt. our Tar had withdrawn his oft'er & 
relinquished the idea of purchasing. 

"Sept. 28th. Nasserwanjee . . . procured a place for 
the storage of the Spars. 

"Sept. 29tli. Commenced Landing the Spars & 
carrying them into one of the Company's Stores. Went 
to Nasserwanjee's & examined musters of Sural Goods 
offered in Exchange for the Tar — found they would not 
answer. 

"Sept. 30th. Found it would be impossible to dis- 

[63] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

pose of the Tar in any other way than by bartering it 
against the Piece Goods mentioned yesterday — the 
most therefore that could be done was to get the most 
unsaleable part rejected & 100 Gorges of Company's 
Nankeens . . . substituted in their place . . . the balance 
of the amt. at 8 1|4 Rupees pr. Barrel, to be paid in 
Cash. Whatever part of the Tar, if any, is taken by 
the Military Board (from which an answer has not 
yet been received) to be deducted & we to receive the 
Price of the same — closed the Bargain on these terms, 
exceedingly glad to get it off our hands at any thing 
like prime cost; as the highest price offered in the 
Bazar, & that for small quantities, was 5 Rupees, 

"Oct. Cth. Deferred the delivery of Tar until the 
answer of the Military Board shall be received . . . 
reed, secret Intelligence that the Military Board intentl 
to take only one hundred Barrels of Tar. 

"Oct. 8th, Sunday. Had a visit from Nasserwanjee 
who says that the Military Board will take 200 Barrels 
of Tar if the price is reduced to 10 Rupees. Disgusted 
at the mean & paltry spirit that could descend to 
hammer us down below Vl Rupees (the price we asked 
for it) when they have been paying, before our arrival, 
40 to 45 Rupees pr. Barrel, I directed N. to inform 
them that no reduction in price would be made. 

"Oct. 16th. Addressed a Note to Mr. Newnham, 
again requesting the answer of the Military Board re- 
specting the Tar." 

The journal does not tell us which of these ex- 
tremely unsatisfactory customers finally purchased the 
"tar and spars." 

Nasserwanjee sold his Spanish dollars for him by 

[04] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

weight, they netting him "226 Rupees per Ct." The 
return cargo consisted mostly of pepper, and in this 
also the natives tried to cheat by selling pepper mixed 
with dust or with tares. He had to guard against false 
measures being given him; as he writes, "they had 
made their calculation to save 1 pound in 5(5, had I 
not detected them by procuring a just weight & prov- 
ing the others by it." Large quantities of drugs- 
castor oil, gum arable, olibanum, etc. — were also 
ordered. 

Becoming exceedingly anxious to hurry the depart- 
ure of the Galloway, he urged Nasserwanjee "to use 
every exertion to dispose of the remaining cargo & 
compleat the purchases as the only remaining hopes 
of making a good Voyage rested on getting home before 
the other Amrn. Ships." But the delays were intermi- 
nable, the excuse being repeatedly made that the day 
was a "Gentoo holiday," or the "Persee New Years 
Day," on which no business could be transacted. 
"Even Nasserwanjee's men," he complained, "were in 
the confederacy against me." 

He was now in an extreme state of exasperation and 
found that strong measures were necessary. "Exces- 
sively mortified & disappointed went home & wrote 
a very sharp Note to Nasserwanjee, informing him 
that I absolutely would not be trifled with in the man- 
ner I had been, — that he must have the Pepper delivered 
as fast as the Ship could receive it — that it was a thing 
altogether out of the question, a thing which I had 
never before heard of, that a Seller should have the 
privilege of delivering his Goods just as he thought 
proper & that at the rate in which the Pepper was now 

[65] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

preparing (50 or 100 Bags pr. Day) I should not detain 
the vShip at an expence of 300 Rupees pr. Day to wait 
for it; but wd. rather carry her home with what I had 
got, remitting my funds to Bengal." 

On his own account, being allow ed five tons privilege, 
he bought valuable articles which did not occupy much 
space — drugs, nutmegs, a cask of castor oil, baskets 
of dates, cornelian stones for seals, cornelian necklaces, 
strings of pearls, and " 1 Box & 1 Bale of Piece Goods." 
The latter consisted of "Seersuckers, Bandanoes," etc., 
and included beautiful large silk handkerchiefs (yellows, 
browns, blacks and reds, with sometimes touches of green) 
many of which he kept for his own use. These were, 
in later years, greatly admired by his grandchildren. 

After fifty days of hard work the lading was com- 
pleted, and John sounded a last note of vexation when 
he exclaimed: 

"A whole Host of Servants, Coolies, Boatmen &c. 
&c. indeed all that ever I had employed in the place 
[assembled] to bid me 'Selaum' (Good Bye,) & 
receive their Bows. Knowing it to be the uniform 
custom to give these people something I could not well 
get over it, but considering myself under no great obli- 
gations to them I was determined to give as little as 
possible. Between them & Nasserwanjee's Clerks & 
Comprodores &c. &c. I was however obliged to part 
with from 40 to 50 Rupees." 

The Parsee, as a parting gift, presented to his 
friend a camel's hair shawl for himself, but any grati- 
fication John felt at this friendly act failed to com- 
pensate for his unpleasant business experiences, which 
evoked the following entry in his journal: — "I never 

[66] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

have felt less reluctance in parting from any place 
than I do in leaving Bombay. In it I have to be sure 
met with much personal civility; but in the way of 
business I have met with a continued series of vexation 
& disappointment." 

The voyage to New York occupied nearly four 
months. "One afternoon, the Vessel being surrounded 
with shoals of Blackfish and the calm continuing, we 
lowered down the Boat and went out after them. After 
rowing about backwards and forwards among them 
for about two hours one of them was struck & got 
along side — he measured l-^ feet in length & we sup- 
posed his weight to be 10 Cwt. His Blubber was 
stripped off for oil, two or three cwt. of his flesh (for 
in its taste it bears not the least resemblance to fish) 
for eating, and its Jaws for the Ivory teeth." 

Some days later the captain saw three brigs, which, 
as they showed no flags, were presumed to be French 
privateers or pirates. John remarked, " We accordingly 
triced up our boarding net ... & being determined to 
sell our ship as dear as we could, we called all hands 
to quarters, loaded our Guns & prepared for action." 
But their marksmanship remained untested, for at the 
last moment the brigs hoisted the English colors. At 
another time they spoke a sloop and found that the 
captain had been insane for twenty-five days and that 
the first oflScer had drowmed himself. The Galloway 
supplied the crew with much-needed provisions, and 
from a l)rig met soon afterwards Capt. Pray in turn 
received "Rum, Potatoes & 2 Newspapers." These 
sea visits and exchanges of small luxuries or necessities 
were quite a matter of course in those days. 

[67] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

The vessel reached its wharf in West Street Feb- 
ruary 19, 1810, after an absence of nine months, and 
on the following day John wrote to Samuel Haining: 
"The business of a Supercargo is so much to my liking, 
affording opportunities of seeing different countries. & 
. . . furnishing also abundant time for indulging my 
propensity to reading, and what may perhaps have 
some influence, yielding certain, sometimes large profits, 
that should another opportunity offer this spring I 
think it probable I might again be tempted' to visit the 
Oriental regions." 

This "opportunity" was soon offered to him and 
in April he wrote to his father: "Finding Commerce 
completely at a stand and no prospect of doing much 
Good ashore I have resolved upon another voyage to 
India & will, I expect, sail about the end of next month 
or perhaps sooner." 

Accordingly^ on May 20, 1810, a year to a day from 
the date of his first departure for India, he sailed once 
more for Bombay. On the voyage over, he describes 
an "almost miraculous escape from shipwreck." 

"Having been making Southing by the Compass 
throughout the night we thought ourselves safe from 
all but the Madagascar shore: — the Ship was then put 
about & was standing to Westward & had just sounded 
with 150 fathoms line without finding bottom; when 
all at once, the night being dark, a range of tremendous 
breakers appeared close under our lee-bow. The Ship 
had scarcely got under way from sounding & was hap- 
pily got about in the moment — one minute more would 
have decided our fate as the Bowsprit, in putting about, 
extended to the rocks over which the water was break- 

[68] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 



iiig almost as liigli as the masts. . . . Found that it was 
the reef of Breakers, noticed last year, which extend 
from the Southern extremity of Juan de nova towards 
the eastward. We had been drifted north by the 
strength of the current full 17 miles in the course of the 
night which was the cause of our getting into this 
disagreeable situation." 

At Bombay he again enjoyed meeting his friend 
Nasserwanjee, and it was probably at this time that 
the latter presented him with the portrait of himself. 
Conditions in Bombay were very different this year 
from those that had prevailed in the previous one. 
Not over one hundred or two hundred candies of pep- 
per, held at a very high price, were found in the place 
and these the Governor would not allow them to export. 
John was "distracted with such prospects" and had 
thoughts of chartering the ship to the Governor for a 
voyage to Mauritius. To add to his troubles, some of 
the seamen deserted, and his dealings with the natives 
were as unsatisfactory as heretofore. 

"My ideas of the native inhabitants of Bombay are 
not more favorable than last year . . . they are almost 
all rogues, & unfortunately are so linked together 
that it is almost impossible to detect an imposition, & 
when you do, custom is uniformly pleaded in its de- 
fence. A more extensive intercourse with the Enfrlish 
inhabitants than I had on a former occasion, has 
deeply impressed me with a sense of their hospitality & 
politeness: — from many of them I have received the 
most friendly attentions." 

Hearing that plenty of pepper was to be had in 
Alepy he decided to go there. Before leaving Bombay 

[69] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

he purchased a number of camel's hair shawls, cornelian 
stones, and a quantity of tortoise shell, and on Novem- 
ber 29th set sail. At Alepy he happily had no difRculty 
in procuring a cargo; the pepper was of good quality 
and plentiful, but none could be sent on board for want 
of bags. In this predicament two bales of "gunny" 
were landed from the Galloway and all hands went to 
work making up bags. 

While this was going on, John was much interested 
in watching some "Elephants that were employed in 
carrying Timber. They take up with their trunks 10 
or 12 massy planks round which a rope is fastened — 
this Rope they take in their mouths & slowly drag the 
Plank along until they reach the piles where they 
deposit them, & slowly pace back for another load; a 
native posted on their shoulder, like an ant on a mole- 
hill, without the assistance of rod or bridle, easily 
governs them, only by now & then telling them what 
they are to do. ... In the evening saw another proof 
of the wonderful sagacity & docility of the Elephant in 
launching a Vessel — two of them were employed, some 
hundreds of natives were also engaged in pulling with 
Ropes & Windlasses, & such is the strength of the 
Elephant that altho' the natives could not move the 
vessel, yet they on applying their heads to her, moved 
her along apparently with ease." 

In Alepy, as well as in Bombay, John found people 
who were kind to him and helped to make his stay 
pleasant. An English family invited him to their 
home during his two weeks' sojourn and treated him 
as if he were a son of the house. He felt "consider- 
able reluctance" when the time for parting came. 

[70] 



VOYAGES TO INDIA 

On the homeward journey Jolin described a dan- 
gerous experience through which they passed: "One 
of the seamen having got drunk & struck the officer 
was put in irons. The others being mutinous we loaded 
our pistols & resolved in case of need to die hard." Two 
days later the aspect of things was still threatening. 
"T. Keemer, late Boatswain, seems very mutinous; 
removed the cutlasses from the armchest to the Cabin 
& kept a sharp look out after the persons with whom 
he associates." 

The voyage was a tedious one; the winds were often 
contrary and John sometimes records, "We are fifty 
miles farther from our port than we were yesterday." 
Even the additional leisure thus gained for reading 
failed to compensate him for these interminable delays, 
and having in mind also his unsatisfactory experiences 
in India, it is not surprising that he should have ex- 
claimed on his arrival in New York, April 22, 1811, 
"I have finished I hope forever my East India Super- 
cargo business." 



CHAPTER IV 

WAR WITH ENGLAND 

1812-1815 

A YEAR after John Johnston's return from 
India, the possibility so long dreaded finally 
became a fact, and in June, 1812, war with 
England was declared. While this declaration pro- 
duced no immediate effect upon his affairs, the war 
later caused him no small personal inconvenience and 
business embarrassment. Before the crisis occurred, 
however, he had occasion to see a good deal of the 
country through some journeys that he undertook. 
One of these was made in August of that year, at 
which time he started on a "trip to the N.ward," 
embarking on the steamboat to Albany. He kept a 
journal of his travels, according to a custom begun 
when he sailed for India. 

It was just five years since Robert Fulton had sent 
his first steamboat up the Hudson, and although a 
regular line had immediately been established between 
New York and Albany, the first entry in the journal 
shows that the personal comfort of the passengers had 
not progressed very far. "Augt. 8th. Came on board 

[72] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

the Steam Boat Paragon, for Albany ... At 10 o'clock 
the cabins were cleared out & tables & Benches placed 
across on which were spread Mattrasses & Blankets. . 
1 reckoned myself fortunate in being able to procure 
a place below deck; but had soon reason to change 
my opinion; for being packed in this place like Herrings 
in a Cask, so great was the Heat, occasioned by the 
united influence of the contiguity of so many human 
bodies & the Steam of the Engine, that I was almost 
suffocated." 

In the early days of the war, the cry was for the 
taking of Canada, and when Mr. Johnston reached 
Schenectady, "called by the inhabitants Snekaday," 
men were building " 100 flat bottomed boats, part of 
800 wanted for the transportation of the U. S. troops 
in their meditated attack upon Montreal." Later at 
Greenbush, across the river from Albany, he found an 
army encampment of about twenty-five hundred men, 
where he "soon had a specimen of American discipline. 
One of the soldiers came to complain that another one 
had been put under guard for 'just setting his foot 
over the line around the encampment,' and on the 
oflricer's referring him to the Colonel he went out & 
assembling a few more of his comrades they indulged 
in some very improper language just by the tent door 
where the oflficer could hear every word they said. . A 
short time before 30 of them had turned out & refused 
to do duty until they received their pay." 

On this trip he was accompanied by David L. 
Kennedy, a nephew of James Lenox; they spent part 
of their time at Ballston with their Scotch friends, 
William Maitland and James Boorman, the latter 

[73] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

soon to become John Johnston's partner. They also 
visited Saratoga Springs, then a small village with 
"only two houses of accommodation . . . which to- 
gether with the want of a regular mail, newsj^apers & 
reading room" prevented its being a place of popular 
resort. 

In the autumn of the same year John started in a 
stage for Boston with some friends and his future 
father-in-law, John Taylor, "all in good spirits." 
But two miles from New Haven, he writes, "when on 
the side of a precipice near Whitney's Mills, the stage 
overset & tumbling to the bottom was dashed in 
pieces. In the moment of oversetting I reed, a blow 
which stunned me and I knew no more until I found 
the people lifting me out of the broken stage. Mr. 
Whitney generously put me in his chair & sent a per- 
son to carry me to New Haven, where, on sending 
for a Doctor, my head was found to be much cut — 
my left arm bruised so as to be perfectly unmanage- 
able, my side & thigh also much bruised and hurt ... I 
was unable to either walk sit or lye." 

The next day the unlucky travellers returned by 
packet to New York, and the captain, being "a clever 
accommodating man and having no other passengers," 
gave them "the privilege of sitting in sober sadness & 
moaning their complaints to one another." "On 
arrival," the journal continues, "Mr. Taylor being 
the only one that could walk went immediately home 
& sent for a carriage in which Mr. Magee and myself 
were conveyed to our respective places of abode, hav- 
ing returned sooner and in rather different circum- 
stances from what w^e anticipated at our departure." 

[74] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 



He also made in the winter a journey "to the S. 
ward, " where the same fate overtook him. He had not 
proceeded beyond Havre de Grace before the coach- 
man "drove against a stump & overturned the carriage. 
With my usual luck on such occasions," he exclaims, 
"I had my head severely cut, & l)led profusely ... I 
had a surgeon to sew up & dress my wound." 

On reaching Alexandria he found that the turnpike 
only extended six miles beyond and that the rest of 
the way to Fredericksburg was extremely bad. There 
were no bridges except over the large rivers, and the 
small ones were dangerous to cross on account of 
floating ice. Only the roughest kind of a road had 
been cut through the forests, many huge stumps re- 
maining, so that the carriage had often to make a zig- 
zag detour through the trees. "What is remarkable," 
he wrote, "notwithstanding the coldness of the weather 
we found at all the taverns that they burnt a large fire 
and kept their doors open. We were told that it was 
'Virginia fashion' and that the same thing was done 
in private families." He arrived safely in Richmond, 
however, and declared it "is certainly the most hos- 
pitable place that 1 have ever visited. On Monday 
I had engagements for dinner during the whole week, 
and when people cannot get you to dine they press 
you to Breakfast or Sup with them," adding that they 
"danced Scotch and Virginia reels till midnight." 

His brother Robert, who after coming to America 
lived in Richmond, a few years later said: "The 
society for the most part is agreeable but the Scotch 
nowadays are by no means the foreigners that are 
most liked, owing to their plodding, narrow disposition 

[75] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

& many of them, having made fortunes & retired home, 
has had a tendency to lesson the respect for the present 
generation of Scotch, & increase it for the Irish, who 
are mostly of such a jolly disposition, that they are 
always disposed to take a drink with a Virginian & 
that pleases them amazingly." 

John remained in Richmond three weeks, during 
which time he ordered and received from New York 
a wig for his wounded head. When it arrived he 
immediately had his head shaved and put it on. 
He seemed surprised after this when his friends did 
not recognize him! 

On December 31, 18H, John Johnston, as was 
his yearly custom, made an inventory of his pos- 
sessions, beginning with his treasured books, $300, 
and ending with his nightcap, $.50. The total value 
(including wearing apparel, furniture, trinkets, etc.) he 
placed at $1,100 and mentioned that his library then 
consisted of one hundred and seventy-five books, many 
of them pamphlets. When we consider that since his 
arrival in New York eight years before, he had repaid 
a considerable loan, had given generously to his family, 
and had made business adventures that needed capital, 
the sum of $300 is a large one to have invested in a 
library. Five years later this numbered seven hundred 
and two volumes. 

Having now been in the employ of Lenox & Mait- 
land for nine years, he decided to start in business on 
his own account, and in March, 1813, formed with 
James Boorman the firm of Boorman & Johnston, 
Merchants. This partnership was hardly an accom- 

[76] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 



plislied fact before John, on April 13, 1813, was 
made to feel heavily the effect of the war with England. 
"Having in consequence," he writes, "of my being 
an alien, received orders from the Marshall of N. Y., 
a fortnight ago, to retire 40 miles from Tide water & 
5 from the Hudson River and having then taken a 
passport to Fishkill (since when I have been secreted 
in Town) I this day at 5 o'clock p. m. embarked on 
l)oard the N. River Steam Boat for that place & was so 
fortunate as to get on board without being noticed by 
any person that could injure me." 

The exercise of the old Alien Enemies' Act, allow- 
ing the President to ex})el non-citizens in time of war, 
sent many Englishmen out of the city into temporary 
exile, and on John's arrival at Fishkill Village, he met 
Mr. Hugh Auchincloss, formerly of Paisley, Scotland, 
the founder of the family in America, and "the whole 
army of aliens." He and one or two friends estab- 
lished themselves in a pleasant boarding place; " Town- 
send's," he wrote, "is an Inn in which however no 
tippling is permitted — indeed it is quite as quiet as a 
private family & we have a good sitting room pretty 
much to ourselves . . . Have as yet made no acquaint- 
ances in the village; the people look upon us with 
suspicion & I cannot blame them. If we were dan- 
gerous members of society in the city we cannot be 
safe here." 

The people of the neighborhood later became very 
hospitable, giving parties "purely on account of the 
aliens," which the latter enjoyed and for which they 
were truly grateful. 

Their constant thought, however, was how to 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

terminate this forced separation from their business 
affairs and their friends. On April 21st Mr. Auchin- 
closs's wife arrived at Fishkill with news which was 
of the utmost importance to her husband and of great 
interest to all the other exiles. She had previously 
procured letters to various influential men, including 
the President and the Secretaries of State and of War, 
and thus armed had undertaken the hazardous journey 
to Washington to plead for her husband's liberty. 

She had now returned, having through her own 
cleverness and persistency obtained a promise that 
orders for his release would follow her. The other 
aliens laughed and said, "Ah, do not trust to their 
coming. Government promises are like piecrust — 
made to be broken." The orders did, however, arrive, 
on April 28th, and Mr. and Mrs. Auchincloss left for 
New York, which, John Johnston said, "makes a 
sad breach in our social circle." 

This success encouraged the other aliens to undertake 
measures of a similar kind, and on May 1st Mr. John- 
ston addressed the following letter to the Secretary of 
State, the Hon. James Monroe. 

"Sir, 

"Having in compliance with the order of the Mar- 
shall of the district removed from the City of Newyork 
to this place in the early part of last month, where I 
have remained ever since ... I beg leave respectfully 
to represent — that I arrived in this country in the year 
1804 since when I have never left it except for the space 
of 22 months when making two voyages to the E. 
Indies in an American Ship & in the employ of an 
American House. — That it was my intention from the 

[78] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

time of my first arrival in the U. Stales to become a 
citizen but not being sufficiently acquainted with the 
Law on that subject, it was not until I applied for 
Citizenship in May 1809 that I was apprized of a 
])revious declaration of intentions being necessary, 
which declaration I then made in the manner required 
by Law. That in the month of May last I had occasion 
to proceed to Boston which prevented me from apply- 
ing for Citizenship immediately at the end of the three 
years, but a few days after my return, in the month of 
June, I made such application when I was informed 
that the existence of war with G. Britain, of which the 
accots. had just reached the City, rendered compliance 
with my wishes impossible. 

"I beg leave further to state — that it is still my 
intention to become a Citizen as soon as the law will 
permit; and that I am at present connected in business 
in the City of Nyork with a resident American Citizen 
and with no other person whatever. 

"Under these circumstances I trust you will be 
pleased to take my case into consideration and to 
direct that I may be permitted to return to the City, 
my absence from which is to me a source of much 
inconvenience & loss. With great respect 1 am 
Yr. mo. ob. hum. St." 

No answer being received to this letter John John- 
ston and his friends proceeded to occupy and amuse 
themselves as best they could. They formed a quoit 
club which met frequently, and as many as were fond 
of the sports enjoyed good shooting and excellent fish- 
ing. John fished in all the little streams of the neigh- 

[79] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

borliood, and on one occasion with two of his friends 
went "in a waggon to a trout creek in the Hook 6 or 7 
miles off, where," he wrote, "we spent the day and 
caught in all 113 trout some of them very fine ones." 
At other times he "went a-fishing with a spear," 
which he, however, pronounced "very fatiguing 
exercise." 

About this time he obtained a passport from the 
Marshal which allowed him to proceed to Ballston, and 
he started off on horseback. At Hudson he found 
many ships and brigs, principally from the city, lying 
there for safety, and at Greenbush again visited the 
army encampment, finding "400 men . . . that were 
taking their departure for Canada . . . many of them 
Boys and old men that had not been a fortnight at the 
depot, & not a few of them drunk. In marching 
through a piece of miry ground some stuck fast & 
others lost their shoes so that the first had to be trans- 
ferred to the baggage wagons & the latter to hop along 
some with one shoe & some with none." 

On this journey he made a visit to Lebanon Springs, 
where the Shakers had had a flourishing colony since 
1787, and as was usual when anything interested him, 
wrote out a detailed account in his journal. 

"[May 16th]. Rode about 2 miles to the village of 
the Shakers to witness their much talked of & very sing- 
ular mode of worship. Immediately on ascending the 
height near the Hartford Turnpike (on which their vil- 
lage stands) I discovered before me the Shakers going in 
procession to meeting, as they always do, the men in 
one troop, two deep, the women in another, marching 
with as much regularity as soldiers at a review. 

[80] 





THI-: SHAKEHS 
I — THE PliOCESSION II — THE DANCE 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

"Their meeting house is uncommonly neat & clean 
and pretty capacious. The whole number of Shakers 
this day attending was about 150, of which about one 
half were women. 

"The dress of the men consists generally of a Drab 
Coat & Vest, cut in the Quaker stile with a pair of wide 
brown trousers. The women's dress is perfectly uni- 
form consisting of a Brown Stuff Gown and white 
nuislin Handkf, their hands joined before & a white 
Pocket Hkf. over the left arm. 

"Their manner of standing joined to their sallow 
complexion & white muslin caps with long flaps similar 
to those in which the dead are usually dressed and 
their lengthened inanimate countenance strongly re- 
called to my mind the idea of a Corpse & seemed to 
present a miniature picture of the resurrection. Noth- 
ing like that bloom of health which is so conspicuous 
in young Quakers of the ordinary kind is discoverable 
among this people. 

"The men beitig seated on Benches at one end the 
room & the women at the other, at 10 1|2 a.m. a 
solemn pause ensued when they all rose as with one 
consent & forming a triangle . . . began to sing with 
all their might. After singing two Hymns beating 
time with their feet — first one and then another of the 
elders stood forth & exhorted them to ' Sense the Good- 
ness of God' and to 'Labor to his Glory' upon which 
the men immediately stripped their Coats & afterwards 
formed themselves six men deep immediately across 
the floor; the women formed themselves in like manner 
& all at once striking up a merry tune they set to 
dancing with all their might. Their motions were 

[81] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

uncommonly regular & so perfectly uniform that one 
would have supposed they were a parcel of puppets 
moved by the same wire. They advance three steps, 
double beat, retreat three steps, double beat, again 
advance, face about, advance towards the other wall, 
face about & then commence again as before. They 
exercised in this manner about half an hour in which 
they sung three lively tunes — they keep time to the 
music very exactly but never change their mode of 
dancing. 

"They now sat down apparently much fatigued & 
soon after getting up in the triangular form as at first, 
they sung another Hymn & broke up, at noon . . . 

"May 17th. I rode . . . down to the Shakers' 
village. Found it no difficult matter to engage them 
in conversation & indeed they showed a disposition 
to argue on the peculiarities of their belief. They 
however did not seem disposed to receive the testimony 
of Scripture farther than it suited their purpose & 
whenever they were hard pressed referred to some 
Book which they said would satisfy me they were 
right. This Book I purchased of them for 10|-. . . . 

"One of them, a young man of 22 years, that I 
found in a workshop at the end of the Village, shewed 
a great curiosity about what was going on in the world. 
He seems acute & I wd. not be surprised if he should 
soon leave them. He seemed very desirous to know 
the principles & practice of other Christians." 

In May the little colony at Fishkill read in the 
papers of the "Blockade of Nyork by the English 
which," John wrote, "very seriously affects my in- 

[82] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

terests & of course my spirits." Bad news travels 
quickly and on Sunday, June 6tli, word also arrived 
of the capture of the ill-fated Chesapeake by the 
Shannon in Boston Roads, only six days after it had 
taken place, "which greatly disturbed the devotional 
exercises of the day." 

Meanwhile a bill for the deliverance of "certain 
aliens" had been introduced in Congress, through 
whose passage they all had great hopes of release from 
this involuntary exile. Their hopes were, however, of 
short duration, for on June 25th a letter was received 
from their representative at Washington stating his 
belief that the bill would not pass that session, in con- 
sequence of which they were "all in the dumps." 

At the end of June George Johnston again did his 
friend a kindness by interesting some influential men 
in his condition. Among other measures he recom- 
mended a petition to Congress, which a Mr. Emott of 
Poughkeepsie drew up, in which "Sundry aliens 
petition Congress for relief." It was to be presented 
to the House of Representatives by "Mr. Fish an 
Administration man," and was signed by D. Hadden, 
R. Lee, G. Pott, G. Laurie, J. Laurie, W. Chapman, 
Cogall, J. McCall, and J. Johnston. It was for- 
warded to the Hon. Jotliam Post, Jr., to whom Mr. 
Johnston wrote: "When I last had the pleasure of 
seeing you I was a freeman — since then I have in 
common with many others similarly situated had the 
misfortune to be ordered into bondage . . . 

"I pretend not to say that on this accot. solely I 
am entitled to indulgence. I admit that where knowl- 
edge is attainable ignorance is a crime; but I think 

[83] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

that when I . . . am willing to take the oaths & fulfil 
the duties of a Citizen, it is hard that I should be con- 
sidered & treated as an Alien Enemy.'' 

Whether this petition did any good or not, we do 
not know, but on July 29, 1813, John wrote: 
"Being convinced by the accounts from Washington 
that the alien Bill would certainly pass I took Passage 
for Newyork in the Sloop Republican . . . and so ended 
my Banishment to Fishkill." His exile had lasted 
three and one-half months. As may easily be imagined, 
he made great haste to remove the stigma of "alien 
enemy," and on August 11th paid $3.50 for his "Certi- 
ficate of Citizenship." 

He and Mr. Boorman then decided that their in- 
terests would be better advanced by his travelling 
abroad and increasing the number of their "business 
correspondents" on the Continent, as well as in the 
British Isles; Mr. Boorman in the meanwhile was to 
conduct their afi'airs in New York. 

Accordingly on September 0, 1813, John, accom- 
])anie(l })y James Aucliincloss, a brother of his Fishkill 
friend, look his departure from New York in the Bos- 
ton stage at 2 A. m. for the purpose of securing a 
passage to Europe, and arrived in Boston on the fol- 
lowing day at 9 p. M. Although war was in progress, 
vessels of neutral countries were engaged in commerce 
but at the constant risk, as will be seen, of being over- 
hauled on the high sea and having to exhibit their 
ship's papers. He succeeded in engaging a berth on 
the Barque Wohlfahrt, a Swedish vessel, paying $150 
and finding his own stores. 

The first thing he did after arranging the business 




THE SEA-FIGHT BETWEEN THE CHESAPEAKE AND SHANNON 
DITEING THE WAH OF 181'2 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

of his trip to England, was to make visits to the Athe- 
naeum library and reading rooms. A " national fast 
day" falling on September 9th and there being services 
in the churches, he went to the Episcopal Church to 
hear the celebrated Mr. Gardiner. His journal gives 
his impression of this preacher and of other Boston 
divines : " The discourse unmixed Politics — Text Mark 
10.41 'They began to be much displeased with James.' 
He commenced with saying 'The people of these states 
were beginning, & with great reason to be much dis- 
pleased with James Madison' . . . The Clergymen of 
Boston seem to be pretty much of the same stamp, all 
warm Politicians & generally infected with Unitarian- 
ism. The discourses I have heard might with propriety 
have been delivered by Plato or Socrates." 

Just before the Wohlfahrt sailed, two aliens who 
had made their escape from Fishkill called on Mr. 
Johnston to see if he would consent to their going in 
the vessel, the agent having referred them to the pas- 
sengers. Crowded as the ship was, place was made 
for them, but not receiving their luggage in time, they 
were unable to start. 

The barque now set sail on September 20th with 
six passengers on board— Mr. Myer, the American 
Consul at Riga, three American merchants, Mr. James 
Auchincloss of Paisley, and John Johnston— and en- 
countered such a series of adventures that they must 
many times have wished themselves safely on shore. 
The day after the Wohlfahrt left Boston, the journal 
tells us, the Captain "discovered a large sail bearing 
down upon us . . . she fired a Gun when we hove too 
. . She ordered us to steer down to a Brig of war then 

[85] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

in sight 'or he would be after us & fire into us.' I 
suppose however he thought our Dutchmen too tardy 
in their motions for before we had got our Ship under 
way he commenced firing musquets at us and two of 
the Balls went whistling close over our heads . . . the 
Brig . . . proved to be H. M. Sloop of War Wasp . . . 
commanded by Capt. Everitt, a very civil & gentle- 
manly officer . . . Capt. Everitt carried Capt. B. on 
board ... A Boat was soon after sent from her to take 
the Passengers on board and poor Myer after being ex- 
amined whether he did not hold an offle. situation 
under the Govt, of the U. S. to which he was obliged 
to answer in the affirmative, was told by the Com. 
that he should be obliged to detain him. Remon- 
strance was unavailing . . . He did not put a single 
question to any of us: — told the Capt. what cargo he 
had on board without looking into his papers! — & 
sent us on board our Barque at 3 p. m." 

The following day they saw another brig of war, 
the Rover; she fired two shots at them, obliging them 
to bear down to her, and then sent three officers on 
board, who threatened to send the Wohlfahrt to Hali- 
fax. They took the Captain back to the Rover with 
them and detained him several hours, after which they 
permitted the vessel to proceed. 

Incidents of this kind happened frequently during 
this voyage of over a month's duration, but they 
finally, on October 30th, came to anchor in the Cove 
of Cork. That very afternoon "an officer came on 
board to remove the three American Gentlemen as 
Prisoners of War." Mr. Johnston, who does not seem 
to have mentioned during this crisis that he was an 

[86] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

American citizen, went ashore and, evidently as a 
good British subject, made a "representation of their 
case to the Admiral." After three days detention they 
were finally liberated. 

A week later Mr. Auchincloss and Mr. Johnston 
reached Liverpool, where the latter had the pleasure 
of meeting and dining with a number of American 
merclunits, among whom was his friend, George 
Johnston. lie found that even these men were "(le- 
cidedly hostile to America. 'Let her feel the war' 
seemed lo be the general scutimcMt." Doubtless Ihey 
were themselves feeling it very heavily. 

After a few days in Liverpool, where he was "pretty 
extensively introduced" and where he, as usual, visited 
all " the different reading rooms," he took the mail stage 
for Scotland. John Johnston's own words must tell 
of this first visit to his old home. 

"Dumfries, Novr. 24th . . . Every thing abso- 
lutely appears almost as strange to me as if I had never 
been in the country before ... In the afternoon visited 
Burns' Grave, over which only a plain stone is laid; 
afterwards dined at the K's x\rms in company with 
Mr. Johnston &c. 

"25th Novr. After breakfast took a Post Chaise 
... & proceeded to Kirkcudbt . . . The country through 
which we have travelled is all so much changed that 
I could scarcely recognise it for the same that I saw 
10 years ago. Happy am I however to observe that it 
is for the better and that the spirit of improvement is 
yet active. 

"Kirkcudbright, 26th Novr. Called & saw a 
number of my old friends some of whom I find much 

[87] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

altered — They all say that, except my being stouter, 
I look pretty much as I did when I went away; and 
yet very few of them w ould have known me ! 

"After taking an early dinner, Mr. Johnston, who 
was kind enough to accompany me, & myself, rode 
out to the Haugh of Urr. On our arrival there I just 
walked into my fathers kitchen & enquired 'if the 
Miller was at liame. ' My stepmother did not know 
me & replied ' yes ' but on my standing still & not again 
speaking she recognized me — a messenger was im- 
mediately dispatched to my father who was in the 
mill. I went to meet him — the Good old man clasped 
me in his arms exclaiming 'my son, my son!' It was 
too much for us both & I was happy we had but one 
spectator as we shed tears in abundance. On coming 
into the House my Sisters & Brothers were introduced. 
All of them were strangers to me. Jen & Nanny, the 
only two that I recollect, I left children & find Grown 
up women. The evening we spent very agreeably in 
mutually enquiring & relating the principal occurrences 
of our lives during the period of our separation. 

"27th Novr. Mr. Johnston & myself rode out to 
Balmaghie to see my old friends there ... It is truly 
astonishing to see the improvements in this Parish . . . 
The desert may literally be said to blossom as the 
rose, for certainly I never expected to see what I have 
this day seen — wild moors. Bogs & Mosses turned 
into wheat fields! 

"After dinner we rode down to see Barnboard 
Miln. I viewed without being much affected the 
alterations that had been made in my father's old 
farm, along by which we passed, but on crossing the 

[88] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

old croft, the scene of my youthful sports; and on 
approaching the mansion, now occupied by strangers, 
where I first saw the light, my feelings fairly overcame 
me — my heart was like to burst, & until a flood of 
tears came to my relief, I was unable to move or utter 
a syllable. The Good people looked at me with 
astonishment — they knew me not but entreated Mr. 
Johnston to cause me to alight. I was really ashamed of 
myself & finding that I could not su|)press my feelings 
nor restrain my tears I abruptly put about my horse & 
rode off leaving Mr. Johnston to explain my case as he 
thought best. It was not until we had ridden a mile 
that I found myself able to resume a conversation . . . 

"On leaving Dunjop I perceived two persons 
coming through the field after us at full speed — it 
was Wm. Geddes [an old family servant] & his son 
who had run all the way from the Hardgate, nearly 
two miles, to see me. They insisted on accompanying 
us to the Brig of Dee. After taking a Glass together 
we parted & I returned to the Haugli Miln. 

"Haugh of Urr, Sunday, 28th Novr. In imita- 
tion of former times, passed this day in the bosom 
of my father's family . . . 

"Kirkcudbright, 30th Novr ... In the evening 
Mrs. Kennedy made a party on my accot ... I am 
in a fair way to be overwhelmed with hospitality ..." 

John remained in Scotland until the end of Decem- 
ber attending to Boorman & Johnston's affairs. Wish- 
ing to see his old friend Samuel Haining, he journeyed 
to the Isle of Man and in order to surprise him arrived 
unannounced at his church. After service John went 

[89] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

up and shook hands with him, but remarked, "he did 
not know me and I was forced to mention my name. " 
Samuel Haining had shown his regard for his former 
schoolmate by naming a son for him, to whom Mr. 
Johnston in later years left a legacy, referring to him 
as " Johnston C. Haining, son of my old friend ... a 
young man who had been long under my care and 
towards whom I had a father's affection." 

Near Edinborough he visited the "Links to see 
the golfers play . . . They were dressed in Scarlet 
Jackets, with a Thistle & two Golfing clubs em- 
broidered on a blue oval on the left breast. The 
Ball although not more than half the size of an egg 
is so hard stuffed that it is said to contain two hatfuls 
of feathers. The game appears exceedingly simple, 
yet to play it well they say requires long practice." 

Both in this city and in Glasgow he accompanied 
friends to the theatre. Feeling, however, that an 
explanation was necessary for his interest in an en- 
tertainment tabooed by the rigorous Presbyterianism 
of the day, he wrote ingenuously: "To this mode of 
spending time I am opposed in principle; but wishing 
to see as much of the world as possible during this 
. . . visit to my native land I intend visiting the theatre 
once, and once 07ily, in each of the principal towns 
through which I may pass. It is from the public 
amusements of a people that their character is to be 
estimated." It is droll after this emphatic utterance 
to find him attending the theatre on two successive 
nights immediately on his arrival in London! And it 
further transpires that before he left, he had visited 
every theatre in the city. 

[90] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

In January, 1814, lie received a gratifying offer of 
partnership from William Maitland, which he never- 
theless declined. Although his connection with Mr. 
Boorman had at this time been of short duration, he 
felt that it offered excellent possibilities for the future. 

Holland was now his objective point, and in January 
he sailed on a packet from Harwich in the teeth of a 
severe storm, finding the harbor of Briel so choked 
with ice that the ship was unable to make a landing. 
They were obliged to go to Scheveningen, where the 
passengers were taken oft' in small boats and finally 
had to be carried ashore on men's shoulders, the waves 
frequently breaking over them. 

Mr. Johnston spent the remainder of the winter in 
Amsterdam and made many friends who entertained 
him handsomely. Some of his English associates offer- 
ing to share the risk, urged him to undertake another 
"adventure" — namely, the chartering of a Swedish 
vessel, which as a "neutral" they thought would be 
allowed to land her cargo at New Haven or Newport. 
This he decided to do, but later, hearing "that the 
English Squadrons on the Am. Coast were ordering 
off neutral vessels on a|c of the Embargo, took the 
horrors and was resolved to abandon the contemplated 
voyage." Unfortunately his friends overcame his 
reluctance and he concluded the charter of the Maria 
Fredericka^ saying, "We must now persevere, having 
gone thus far, but my heart misgives me much." On 
May 11th the loading of the vessel was concluded and 
she sailed on her fruitless voyage. 

Having finished this business, Mr. Johnston started 
for Paris, journeying through Holland and Belgium. 

[91] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

The whole country was in a completely desolated con- 
dition on account of the late Napoleonic war and 
Haarlem had the appearance, he wrote, "of a heap 
of ruins. When the Dutch trade was ruined by Bona- 
parte's decrees, the Population decreased nearly 1|3 & 
the Owners of the empty Houses, being still forced to 
pay heavy taxes on them, had no other alternative but 
to pull them down." 

After entering France he had much trouble about 
his passport — in some cities they hesitated to admit 
an Englishman, and one landlady had orders not to 
lodge any of them. In this crisis a French officer 
who was in the stage came to his rescue and interceded 
for him. The majority of his associates on the journey 
were Frenchmen, and the whole topic of conversation 
was the recent failure of the French arms. The com- 
bined forces of the Allies had proved too great a strain 
on Napoleon's resources and Paris had fallen on March 
31, 1814. Although already in Elba, he still had a 
deep hold on the hearts of the people, who hardly 
believed the story that he had left the country. Chil- 
dren followed the stage, calling out "Vive I'Em- 
pereur Napoleon." Others, better informed or less 
devoted, shouted for Louis XVIII. As Mr. Johnston 
neared Paris he found himself in the midst of the 
recent devastations committed by the Prussians and 
Cossacks. At Laon, on May 20th, he wrote: 

"I saw the first mournful concomitants of war — 
Houses burnt & villages pillaged and deserted . . . The 
skeletons of the Horses are still lying on the surface . . . 
The whole country through which we passed has been 
the scene of dreadful conflicts in the late war, and the 

[92] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

villages, which must have been beautiful heretofore, 
are only heaps of ruins and scarcely a living creature 
to be seen in them. We stopped at an Inn at Chauvi- 
gnon (the only one which out of perhaps a hundred is 
now to be found on the road) for breakfast. The poor 
landlady had not a piece of furniture left whole in the 
House and could only give us a slice of fried Bacon, 
with one knife & fork to two persons, a piece of Brown 
bread and a Glass of wine! Our conducteur, a very 
intelligent fellow, told us that 10,000 frenchmen were 
killed in the different Battles between Laon & Sois- 
sons!" 

He found Paris crowded and was unable to procure 
an apartment in the "Rue de Richelieu where the 
principal hotels are kept. " After a good deal of trouble 
he was safely but not very comfortably lodged in a 
hotel on the Rue de Hanovre. 

That first night, in spite of fatigue and his alleged 
disinclination to "this mode of spending time," he 
visited the Theatre Fran^ais. The next day he writes, 
"went to see the 'Musee Napoleon,' Gallery of the 
Louvre, in which is deposited the plunder of the world. 
All the Chefs d'oeuvres of sculpture & painting col- 
lected by the french armies in Italy, Germany, Holland 
&c. &c. are here arranged in different spacious appart- 
ments. A very great number of people of all classes 
was there and what seemed rather indelicate was to 
see a number of ladies in the rooms where are arranged 
the naked figures of men." In a later journey to Europe 
Mr. Johnston had the satisfaction of finding many of 
these works of art returned to and set up in their own 
countries. 

[93] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

His journal while in Paris shows with what interest 
he noted the lights and shades of the world play that 
was being acted about him. 

"25th May , . . spent the evening at the Circus. 
After the Equestrian performances were ended, a 
pantomime called the entry of Henry 4th into Paris 
was performed, which, being filled with allusions to the 
present state of things, was received with unbounded 
applause. 

"27th May. Visited . . . the Gobelins a national 
manufactory of Tapestry— nuuiy of the pieces represent 
the triumphs of Na])oleon; but as they are not finished, 
I suppose they will now be stop|)e(l. 

"I then went to the opera in hopes to see the Em- 
peror or some of the Kings, but none of them was 
there. 

"28th May. I returned to the Thuilleries by way 
of the Hall legislatif a large building decorated on the 
outside with Emblems of Bonaparte's victories. It is 
renuirkal)le at what pains this num has been to trace 
on every public building ik in all public establishments 
the leading events of his own History — all the public 
monuments whether arches. Pillars, — Statues or Palaces 
(however they may have been erected to the ' Glory of 
the Grand Army ' or to the ' Memory ' of some favorite 
General), seem to have no other end than this, as the 
Emperor is always the prominent figure; — even on the 
walls of the Louvre, which was built long enough 
before he was born, he has caused his Initials to be 
placed, and on the Bridges he has sculptured his 
Eagles ! 

"30th May. This being the day fixed for the re- 

[94J 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

view of the Allied troops previous to their leaving Paris 
I repaired to the Port d'etoile. They were principally 
of the Emperor of Russia's Guards & some of the finest 
men I ever saw — very few of the Infantry seemed to be 
under 6 feet. The Cossacks were also fine tall fellows. 
At about noon the Emperor of Russia accompanied by 
the Emperor of Germany, the Arch Duke Constantine 
& some other great characters rode along the front of 
the line — they then returned & the troops filed off 
before them. There were in all about 20,000 Infantry 
& 17,000 Cavalry besides a train of Artillery, and from 
their manner of defiling I had an opportunity of seeing 
the whole. The Emperor of Germany is a poor little 
withered looking man & being dressed in white, with 
blue facings, the uniform of his Guards, had more the 
appearance of a trumpeter than of an Emperor. The 
Emp. Alexander is a very fine looking man & has some 
thing very good in his countenance. 

"31st May. Visited . . . the Luxembourg . . . Here 
there are many beautiful appartments the greater 
part of which were formerly hung round with Pictures 
of Bonaparte's triumphs; but all there are now cov- 
ered with Green Baize. 

"4th June. Went ... to the Pont de Thuilleries 
where I had a very good view of the King [Louis 
XVIIL] as he went to the Legislative Hall. He was 
preceded by a great number of state carriages with 8 
Bay Horses each, in which were the Marshalls of 
France &c. His own Coach was drawn by 8 White 
Horses, and in it were, besides himself, the due 
d'Orleans, due d'Angouleme, & due de Berri. Spent 
part of the evening at the Theatre des Varietcs." 

[95] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

Rumors of John's participation in these important 
events had reached the far-away Scotch home with 
the usual accompaniment of exaggeration, and an 
amusing letter from William Johnston shows the 
alarm created in the father's mind lest his son should 
be led astray by the grandeur he was witnessing. "I 
am much pleased," wrote his old friend, "to find . . . 
you are in the way of returning to the Land of Cakes. 
Your father seems to be quite sick about your absence 
and wrote last Sabbath a very humourous note telling 
me 'that he had heard that you were at Paris seeing 
the King Crowned; wishing that you would recollect 
that you were only the Son of the Poor Millar of Barn- 
board — and not a Born Gentleman.' 

"The fears of a Parent for his offspring is no Doubt 
very great — as the Honest Man entertains the Idea that 
so much greatness may hurt your Brain. 

"But you may answer him as little Tibby Gowan 
Spinster did — when talking of her Grandsire then in 
New York (a place she had sometimes been) . . . ' w hat 
signifies all this greatness since the people of Xewton 
does not see it.' 

"I have four letters for you one address'd to Sir 
John Johnston. And had not my son James told me 
that Sir in French was sometimes used for Master I 
should have been as much at a stand to understand 
when you would stop your Career, as the old Gentle- 
man above alluded to." 

On July 6tli John left Paris for the return trip to 
England, and at Boulogne regretted that he had not 
time to visit the harbor, where Napoleon had prepared 
his flotilla for the invasion of England. On this 

[96] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

journey he found himself travelling at the same time 
with the Emperor Alexander and his suite. Arriving 
at Dover, "the usual difficulties arose about the Ex- 
amination of the baggage . . . the Custom House was 
shut and the officers assured us we must stay for the 
evening coach of next day. A Cossack officer ... of 
the suite of the Emperor Alexander had the privilege 
of passing; & by representing to them that he could 
not speak English, which was really the case, and 
that I had hitherto acted as his interpreter they per- 
mitted me to pass with him." 

When Mr. Johnston was in London at this time, 
gas was just being introduced from a central supply, 
and an entry in the journal shows how marvellous the 
achievement appeared. "Visited the premises of the 
Gas-light Company in the neighbourhood of Bishops- 
gate Street; but not having an order was not permitted 
to enter. From this place pipes are at present laying 
all the way to the Strand (more than a mile) & many 
of the Shops are also lighted with leaders from these 
pipes." When he returned to London a few years later 
he made a note of the fact that all the theatres were 
brilliantly lighted by this means. 

Mr. Boorman corresponded with John whenever 
he had an opportunity, but mails were irregular and 
there were long intervals when neither heard from the 
other. Letters sent from Glasgow in December, 1813, 
and from Amsterdam in March, 1814, reached New 
York within a week of each other. The projected 
"adventure" of the Dutch vessel had been a matter 
of consideration between them, and on May 18th 
James Boorman had written: 

[ 97 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

"The late extension of the Blockade applying to the 
whole Coast will I fear thwart your plans & I hope no 
fatality may attend any operations that you have 
recommended — I can take no provisional steps not 
knowing whether to expect vessels under our direc- 
tions or merely shipments, if it were the former I should 
endeavour to devise means of directing them to Amelia 
Island, which is the only step that I perceive at present 
could be taken with them — The first vessel that we 
heard of being turn'd off it is said went to Halifax — 
This Blockade is a most unfortunate business, it is not 
worth while however to take trouble in advance. 

"Knowing the wayward Policy of our Govt, you 
probably will not have been much surprized to hear 
of the relinquishment of the Embargo & non Importa- 
tion Act. This would have opened a fine field for you, 
had not the Blockade been extended, as we now stand 
there is no prospect of safety for anything excepting 
in Licensed Neutrals & I fear the British Govt, will 
not give such Licenses while the Blockade continues, 
if they do, there is nothing in our Laws to prevent 
Neutrals from using them, but great care must be 
taken to have everything clear to defeat our Privateers 
which will be on the alert — altho' our Govt, contend 
that free Ships ought to make free Goods, yet the 
practise of our courts is the reverse." 

His anxieties were well founded, as John was to 
experience later. In addition to blockaded ports and 
seizure of our ships, the American arms were meeting 
with rebuffs on land in the struggle with Great Britain. 
In August, 1814, a British force of five thousand men 
landed about fifty miles from Washington, and a few 

[98] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

days later the Capitol, after very little resistance, was 
taken and bnrned. New York feared a similar fate 
and the people prepared for defence. On September 
2nd Mr. Boorman wrote: "The times look gloomy 
here ... I think it not unlikely that we may have an 
attack, but I do not believe it would be successful as 
we shall have near '20,000 Men here in four or five 
days. I have to turn out on Monday to go into the 
service of the U. S. — the troops are only in service two 
hours morning & evening & I expect will not be unless 
we have an alarm." 

David L. Kennedy, on the following day, in a 
jocose style, also gave him an account of what was 
taking place: 

"We are here just now all in bustle and confusion 
and every man who is not an Alien Enemy is a soldier 
— Aliens of every other description shoulder their 
muskets resolved to defend their adopted Country as 
long as — the Virginia & Maryland Patriots did Wash- 
ington and I fancy not a whit longer. Apropos — Did 
it not my worthy friend rend your heart strings to hear 
that the Capital of our beloved Country was entered 
by a barbarous & ruthless Enemy, its public Buildings 
rendered smoking piles and poor Mrs. Madison de- 
serted by every living soul except Jacob Barker, who 
had gone on to negotiate the loan. Madison it is said 
has great dread that he carried on a negotiation with 
his wife which had no reference at all to state affairs 
but whether this vexes him or not he has cares enough 
besides to prevent his Chair being at all envied. Some 
say he will resign not daring to shew Congress his 
phiz. Where these barbarous British Rascals are to go 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

next — I know not, but this I know that being an alien 
(now when it suits my convenience having the thing 
at my option) I intend to shew John Bull that it was 
not for nothing Nature bestowed such a pair of long 
shanks upon me. At Brooklyn & Harlaem they are 
busily engaged fortifying and in two days w^e shall 
have a body of 25,000 men to repel the invader. I 
sincerely trust an attempt will not be made on us for 
the object to be attained will not in any degree com- 
pensate for the vast number of lives that will inevitably 
be lost. 

"As this vessel no doubt carries newspapers with 
her, you will see what a disgraceful capitulation 
Alexandria has made. However it is not much worse 
than the defence Washington made which in my 
humble opinion fixes a stain upon the consarned that 
will not or ought not readily to be effaced." 

The news of the destruction of Washington quickly 
reached Scotland and was celebrated in a manner dis- 
tasteful to some of the returned aliens. It however put 
William Johnston in fine fettle, for he wrote to John : 
"I enquired at Mr. Dyson if he had any News for you. 
He said not a Word only complements. But to day he 
is rather flatt at the Ringing of our Bells for the down- 
fall of Washington. What will Cousin Madison say 
to that ? I hope they have given the Foundation Stones 
of his House the air — and carried him out of its ruins 
with particular attention in the hopes of sending him 
on his Elbow alongst with his Uncle Bonie." 

Disasters at home and anxiety about his transac- 
tions abroad were having a depressing effect upon Mr. 
Johnston's health. "So much have I lately suffered," 

[ 100 J 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

he had written earlier in his journal, "from trouble on 
accot. of the adv. fm. Hd. & other bad news that I 
today weigh only 148 lbs. being fully 30 lbs. less than 
I did a few months ago." 

In December his worst fears were realized and he 
received the unpleasant news of the arrival of the 
Maria Fredcricka in Holland with the Dutch cargo 
still intact. This obliged him to return there and he 
set out immediately on the fatiguing journey. The 
adjustment of loss and the disposal of the cargo, which 
was a valuable one, was a vexatious business, and he 
remained until December 27th, when, news having 
arrived of the signing of preliminaries of peace between 
England and America, he took his departure. He thus 
describes the journey between Amsterdam and Rot- 
terdam: "Left Amsterdam at 8 a.m. in the Post 
Waggon which certainly is the most disagreeable con- 
veyance I ever used. It only takes 4 passrs. but is so 
low in the roof that you cannot sit with your hat on; 
& having no springs you are agreeably informed of 
every cobble or cut with which the wheels come in con- 
tact by a thump on the head. It has besides no window 
nor aperture to admit the light so that when the side 
curtains are closed it is perfectly dark . . . We did not 
arrived until 9 p. m." 

It was inevitable, as has been said, that the strain 
and responsibility through which Mr. Johnston had 
passed should have caused a breakdown of even his 
strong constitution. It came, in February, 1815, in 
the form of an acute attack of gout. He was then 
less than thirty-four years of age and during the re- 
mainder of his life was never free from this painful 

[101] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

malady. In addition to his physical suffering, he was 
tormented by the fear of being misjudged by a cen- 
sorious world. 

"Last night I was seized in the midst of a violent 
perspiration with a most acute pain in the right great 
toe which has nearly rendered me unable to walk. 
This distresses me very much as the pain is incessant & 
increasing. I surely have not been living so freely as 
to induce a Gout and yet I am at a loss to find another 
name for it. Should this really be the case I fear I not 
only have in my constitution the seeds, no longer latent, 
of the troubles attendant on premature old age; but 
this will be considered by the world as resulting from 
excesses which I have always abhorred; and besides 
my plans and the prospect which was opening to my 
view will be blasted from my inability to follow them 
up. Spent the evg. at home alo7ie & exceedingly 
depressed." 

Days of consultations with physicians, of doubt 
buoyed up by hope, and ho})e destroyed by pain ensued. 
The following week he was still lame but by cutting 
open his shoe "was able to liirple down stairs and 
hop to the exchange!" 

On March 15th word of the ratification by Madison 
of the treaty of Ghent had arrived, and on March 25th 
"the melancholy news of Bonaparte's entering Paris." 
John immediately began to make preparation for re- 
turning to America. He paid a final visit to his family 
in Scotland, where he promised his brother William 
"if he at tended to his education (grammar, B. Keep- 
ing and afterwards french) to take him out in about 
a year" to America, and agreed to "give Jenny £50 

[ lO'^ ] 



WAR WITH ENGLAND 

on her marriage to her parents' liking." As a parting 
gift William Johnston presented to him the "Mull" 
which is shown on the title-page, a " Mull" being a 
large snuff-box made from a ram's horn and usually 
handed around among a party of friends. 

On July 24, 1815, after an absence of nearly 
two years, John Johnston landed in New York, and 
closed his journal as usual by a short review of his 
impressions: "So thus have 1 happily brought to 
a termination an expedition in which good & ill has 
been pretty equally balanced — I have seen a good 
deal more of the world & have perhaps learnt better 
how to estimate men & things. I have also upon the 
whole I hope been successful in establishing a corre- 
spondence for my House, but I have dissolved a charm 
which had long filled my bosom with indescribable 
pleasure — I have found that even in my native land 
and in the midst of many of the companions of my 
youth the pleasures that enchanted me in my juvenile 
days cannot again be realized. 1 found that the cares 
of business too much occupied my mind to allow me 
to relish the light & innocent pleasures that had 
formerly occupied my whole soul, and I was unlucky 
too in engaging in that unfortunate Amsterdam adv. 
. . . which infused much bitterness into the cup of my 
enjoyments." 



CHAPTER V 

EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

1817—1832 

A LETTER written by John Johnston September 
6, 1808, contams the following words: 
" My resolutions on this subject are, 1st never 
to marry a wife until I can support & maintain her in 
a decent rank — this I hold to be essential to the right 
enjoyment of matrimonial life. 

"2nd. Never to marry a woman whose religious 
opinions run counter to my own; for there my happi- 
ness wd. be marred. 

"3rd. Never to marry a woman merely for her 
money, for then I might reasonably expect to be more 
or less under her control, and I hold it to be potent 
truth & sound doctrine that man is, or ought to be, 
master of his own house. 

"4th. Never to marry a widow for then in case of 
matrimonial broils, and such things there will be, I 
would be afraid of having a contrast drawn betwixt 
me & her first husband of which the result, in all 
probability, would not be very flattering to my feelings." 

Yet, in spite of paragraph 4, during the summer 
of 1817 he was paying earnest suit to Margaret Taylor, 

[104] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

widow of Reslia Howard! The young people were of 
common Scotch origin and undoubtedly had become 
acquainted through their friends, Robert Lenox and 
his brother James. Margaret's father, John Taylor, 
was an intimate friend of Robert Lenox, her brother, 
Robert Lenox Taylor, having been named for him, 
while John Johnston, as has been told, was connected 
in business with James Lenox. 

John Taylor, formerly of Glasgow, had been for 
many years a successful New York merchant, whose 
city house was 23 Cliff Street. His country home, 
situated on the site of the present 39th and 40th Streets, 
ran from Fifth Avenue to the Bloomingdale Road 
(Broadway), and comprised a farm of about ten acres. 
The house, a large one among beautiful trees, was 
encircled by a piazza with high white columns. Here 
in "Bloomingdale, sweet Bloomingdale," Margaret 
Taylor Howard had passed the summers of her four 
years of widowhood, and here, amid these gracious 
surroundings, John Johnston's wooing took place. 

Margaret, three years his junior, had married Resha 
Howard in 1809, and had had one child, Elizabeth, 
who died when a year or two old. She had passed 
through experiences that mature and deepen, and when 
for the second time she was asked to join her life with 
that of another, knew, as the pages of her journal show, 
the value of an honest man's affection. 

"Why should I hesitate, he is a professor of religion, 
an excellent character, an agreable person, and if 1 
credit his word, loves me in the way I have often wished 
to be loved by him. 

" June 9th. Still in perplexity, what would I give 

[105] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

for a kind indulgent Mother in whose breast I might 
pour all my troubles; to my Father I dare not speak, 
yet until I know his will I scarce dare have one of my 
own; oh, if I ever shoidd be blessed with a family may 
I teach them to love as well as fear me. 

"June 10th. Last night had an interesting con- 
versation with J. J. I hope that I have not done wrong, 
but 1 have given him room to think that if Papa nuikes 
no objection I shall make none, should we ever be 
united grant us Oh Lord thy blessing. 

" 17th. This day moved out to Bloomingdale, sweet 
Bloomingdale, where I have spent my happiest and 
some of my most miserable hours. I have again a 
prospect of happiness, my heart look to thy Maker for 
a continuance of it. 

"24th. The die is cast, my Father has given his 
consent and cheerfully, too, as I can judge from his 
behavior. Now I can no longer hesitate; oh heavenly 
father grant us thy blessing, may we make the reso- 
lution of Joshua ours, let others do as they will, as for 
us we will serve the Lord." 

John rented a horse and gig by the month in order 
to go driving with Margaret, and in August began to 
prepare for his wedding, which was to take place at 
Bloomingdale on September 2d. For this important 
occasion he had made 



" A coat of Impl. Saxon blue cloth $36 

" A white Marseilles vest 5 50 

" A pair drab cassimere pants 14 

" 18 Rich gilt buttons (for the coat) 5s 3d." 



Besides the above he ordered a pair of Wellington 

[106] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

Ijoots. It would be interesting to know something 
about the dress of the bride as well. 

He hired a carriage for their wedding journey, which 
he kept for ten days, driving it himself as far as Hart- 
ford, and from there sending it back to New York. 
They probably occupied the remainder of the three 
weeks they were away, in visiting Margaret's relatives, 
near New Haven. 

On their return from their wedding journey John 
took his bride to her new home at 16 Greenwich Street, 
then a fashionable locality very near the Battery. 
Battery Park was not as extensive in 1817 as at present, 
and the trees not half the size they have since become, 
but the breeze was always cool and fresh, and there 
in the long summer evenings might be seen a con- 
course of gaily attired people enjoying the pleasant 
scene. These promenades in this delightful spot in view 
of the waters of the harbor were a social feature of the 
time. 

In Greenwich Street they were joined by Margaret's 
adopted child, John Taylor Sherman, the son of her 
sister Eliza, Mrs. Thaddeus Sherman. This little boy, 
born not long after the death of Margaret's own child 
Elizabeth, who was named for this same sister, had 
})robably been informally adopted during her widow- 
hood. He was now three and a half years old and was 
hereafter usually a member of John's family. He re- 
mained w itli them that winter, but when in the spring a 
journey to Europe was determined upon, was sent back 
temporarily to his mother, who lived at 51 Maiden Lane. 
Messages about his health and his progress were fre- 
quent, Margaret's father writing to her that "Little 

[ 107 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

John is as hearty as a Uttle Buck ... at school to 
Mother & learning very well," . . and, " John has 
nearly forgot Greenwich Street." 

AVhile Margaret clung to this tie of her former life 
and always felt the deepest affection for the adopted 
child of her widowhood, it was almost the only associa- 
tion with the past that she allowed herself. She never 
from the day of her second marriage mentioned her 
first husband or the little daughter she had lost, tore 
out of her journals all the pages relating to that earlier 
})eriod, and none of her children or grandchildren ever 
heard her refer to it in the most distant way. Late in 
life, one of her grandchildren, noticing the letters 
"R. H." on a piece of silver, was indiscreet enough to 
ask whose initials they were and received the curt 
reply that the silver had been "left to her by a 
friend." 

May, 1818, found the young people on their journey 
across the ocean, and on arrival at Liverpool they 
started immediately for Glasgow, where John Johnston 
had business and where many of his wife's relatives 
lived. Here her brother Andrew Taylor joined them 
and remained with them for a long time. Now and 
then they started in "high spirits" for short trips in 
Scotland, England or Ireland, both for business and 
pleasure, but lived most of the time in Glasgow during 
their year's absence from New York. Margaret's father 
frequently sent John bills of exchange for his wife's 
use, at one time writing teasingly that he supposed 
"Margaret is not strong in funds ... I dare say you 
are wishing her at home again, being the most ex- 
pensive part of your Luggage." 

[108] 




- ^' 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 



One of their greatest enjoyments, Mr. Johnston's 
journal records, was in going to the "Iron Church to 
hear the celebrated Dr. Chalmers . . The scope of 
his sermon [was] to shew that the existence of many 
estimable moral qualities in Men unacquainted with 
the Gospel was no proof of their not being totally 
depraved by nature & Enemies to God . . . He . . 
finally concluded . . . with a burst of Eloquence sur- 
passing any thing I ever before heard which perfectly 
astonished & delighted me. 

"His action is violent, sometimes with the one hand 
sometimes with the other but never with both at once, 
the one being used to guide his eye to the notes which 
he always keeps before him altlio' he is not a close 
reader. His stile is beautiful altho' he pronounces 
many words in the Scottish manner." Another time 
he wrote, "We heard Dr. Dick, whose eloquence is, 
according to Dr. Mason, that of the still small stream 
whilst Dr. Chalmers is the bursting dashing & roaring 
of the mighty torrent." 

They paid a visit to Haugh of Urr, where they 
found John's father very comfortable in Millbank Cot- 
tage, the new house his son had built for him. Here 
they were welcomed and treated with every possible 
"kindness and attention." They also went to see 
"Aunt Jane Proudfoot and spent the day on the banks 
of Moffat water," where doubtless John would have 
gone fishing as usual had it not been Sunday. Ten- 
derly as he had always regarded the place, it seemed 
equally beautiful to Margaret. "My aunt, honest 
woman, gave us a hearty welcome & a great many 
good things, altho' in plain stile . . . afterwards walked 

[109] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

in the garden & grounds which have lost none of their 
beauties. In viewing this phice I am no doubt par- 
tial from early recollections, but my wife, who can 
have no such partiality, pronounces it the loveliest 
spot we have visited." 

Friends had given him letters of introduction to peo- 
ple of importance, and he and his wife were entertained 
hospitably in the various cities which they visited. 

In Ireland he was much interested in the con- 
dition of the peasantry, and wrote in his journal as 
follows : 

"The inhabitants are almost universally in rags, 
and form a very extraordinary contrast to the appear- 
ance of the Country, which seems to produce almost 
spontaneously very fine crops of Corn & Potatoes and 
the richest grass I ever saw. Their farming utensils 
seem much inferior to those of the Scots, and their 
Carts, or Cars, are paltry little things with thin block 
wheels about two feet in diameter which turn with the 
axletree, &: on which they seem to carry a load not 
much exceeding what might be taken on a wheel 
barrow. On reviewing our ride through Ireland I 
am more & more struck, at the prodigious contrast be- 
tween the country & the inhabitants. The former is un- 
commonly fine & in despite of indifferent agricultural 
implements & scanty manure, the accompaniments of 
poverty, every where produces most Luxuriant crops 
of Corn & Grass, while the wretched inhabitants seem 
hardly to have wherewithal to cover their nakedness. 
This remark applies to the whole of our journey, to 
the very confines of the capital — we have hardly seen 
a single farmer, that we knew to be such, decently 

[110] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

dressed & hardly a Laborer or mechanic that was not 
clothed in rags." 

He also found much to reflect upon in the condition 
of the small tenant farmers of his own land, and de- 
scribes what he saw on a journey from Kenmore to 
Loch Erne: 

"The stupendous mountains which rise on each 
side the lake are only skirted with wood along its 
border & raise their lofty heads, naked & bare, to the 
clouds — what land is cultivated lies also along the 
border of the lake, for perhaps half a mile up the sides 
of the mountains: — beyond that there are few fences, 
& only heath & rocks to be seen. The population is 
astonishing for such a barren region as Huts & mis- 
erable looking farm Houses, all thatched with Brackens, 
(& many of them with only a hole in the roof for the 
smoke to escape) are planted thick on both sides; and, 
as usual, abundance of chubby Children, dressed in 
the Philibeg, crawling about in the mud. This dress 
is not so much used by the men — I suppose not one 
in three of those we have today seen are dressed in it. 

"The inhabitants generally farm a small Patch of 
one, two, or three acres, for which they pay about £'3 
})r. acre, with a House. This supports their families 
& they trust to their labor at some mechanical or other 
professions, to pay the rent. . . . The language is 
entirely Gaelic, but most of them understand English. 
They have good schools, where latin also is taught. 
The Clergyman . . . preaches half the day in English 
& half in Gaelic." 

After these trips he and his wife, in November, 
1818, settled down in Glasgow, where their first child, 

[111] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

a daughter, was soon afterwards born and died. Mr. 
Johnston was deeply grieved at this "sore disappoint- 
ment." "I have just returned from laying the remains 
of the lovely infant in the Churchyard, & with it all 
hope of having a child that can call the country of its 
parents its own . . . My heart is full, but I bless God 
I can say, I trust with resignation, 'Not my will but 
thine be done.'" The poor father, according to the 
spirit of the times, seemed to think that this bereave- 
ment might have been sent as a punishment for their 
sins and added, " I pray God it may produce the effect 
of turning us from them, so shall this chastisement, 
altho' it certainly at present seems grievous, produce 
in us hereafter the peaceable fruits of righteousness." 

As he always wished to use every opportunity for 
self-improvement, he attended a course of chemical 
lectures at the Glasgow University, and by way of 
amusement went to see the King's Falconer exhibit 
his hawks. They had here great pleasure in dividing 
among their friends a consignment of a dozen Virginia 
hams sent to them from America. It was in Glasgow 
also that Mr. Johnston wrote his reply to the 
"queries of Sir John Sinclair relative to the effects in 
America of the late suspension & resumption of specie 
payments," in which he said, "1 stated my opinion 
that the latter measure had in every respect been 
beneficial to the country. The contrary is what I 
understand he wishes to establish." 

On February 10, 1819, business obliging him to 
leave his wife, he "travelled with a heavy heart," 
moralizing thus as he went: "Man is the Creature 
of habit — for the last 18 mos. I have spent my hours 

[112] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

of retirement entirely with my wife, & I now feel 
miserable without her: — before I was happiest when 
alone.''' He found, too, that he had lost some of his 
convivial tastes, for after supping with William John- 
ston and his friends in Kirkcudbright, where they 
had a "cheever and a crack" about "auld lang syne," 
he complains, "the sitting continued longer than I 
wished it as we did not separate till 2 o'clock." 

During the long stage ride between London and 
Hull an amusing incident occurred. "At Lincoln ... a 
lively well informed Gentleman entered," he wrote, 
"with whom I soon got into conversation. From 
business we proceeded to the Catholic question where 
we happened to disagree about the Veto. In perfect 
good humour (not knowing my profession) he spoke 
of the solemn dignity of the long faced Presbyterians 
and I of the cold formality of the Episcopalians. He 
affirmed the Protestant Church had more to fear from 
sectaries than from Catholics; and I adduced America 
as a strong instance of no good resulting from Estab- 
lishments, Religion there flourishing without them, and 
took occasion to remark on the crowded churches of 
the Dissenters in England whose salary depended on 
their own exertions & the comparitively deserted state 
of those of the Establishmt. with the exception of a few 
popular preachers ... I then took an opportunity of 
asking who he was & found to my surprise it was the 
Vicar of Hull." 

John was absent a month and on his return they 
prepared for their departure to America, travelling by 
coach to Liverpool and sailing on May 1st for home. 
There were twenty-seven cabin passengers aboard and 

[113] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

when the sea was smooth they used to dance on deck 
for exercise. Half way over they had the unpleasant 
experience of a short water supply, when "water was 
for the first time served out by measure 1 Pint pr. 
diem allowed each for washing." One afternoon, 
according to the journal, they "saw a sail resembling 
the Atlantic ahead at 3 p. m. She hove to & sent her 
Boat on board of us . . It turned out to be the Atlantic^ 
and Mr. [Robert L.] Taylor came on board of us. He 
is hearty & well altho' a little mortified at being so 
beaten, as the Atlantic sailed 10 days before us. We 
sent them some wine & sugar & got some candles." 

When they found themselves near Gay's Head they 
"stood in" and landed one of the passengers, and on 
June 8, 1819, came to anchor off Beeckman Slip. 
"Mr. Boorman, Mr. Taylor & many of our other 
friends soon after made their appearance & we were 
happy to learn that all were well in whom we took an 
interest . . . On first landing here, particularly in the 
heat of summer, a stranger is much struck with the 
almost universally sallow complexion of the natives — 
notwithstanding my being so long accustomed to it, 
my first impression was that my friends had all lost 
flesh, & had the appearance of being newly risen from 
a sick bed." 

A few days later the travellers returned to their 
home at 16 Greenwich Street. Mr. Johnston now re- 
sumed all his former activities. He had been made a 
member of the Chamber of Commerce in 1817 and had 
been for several years a member of "The Reading 
Room in Wall Street" and the "New York Bath;" he 
was also a shareholder in the Society Library, and later 

[114] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

owned stock in tlie Clinton Hall Association, organized 
to provide a building for the Mercantile Library. He 
had large shipping interests in connection with his 
brothers-in-law, Robert L. and Andrew Taylor, and 
they owned many vessels sailing for Liverpool, Savan- 
nah, Mobile and other ports. 

His principal business dealings were, of course, 
centered in the firm of "Boorman & Johnston, Mer- 
chants." A book written in 1864 by "Walter Barrett, 
Clerk," called "Old Merchants of New York," gives 
an account of this widely known and prominent firm. 

"Their business was at first selling Scotch goods, 
bagging from Dundee, etc. The firm did a very large 
business with Virginia, and at one time sold nearly all 
the tobacco that came to this market from Richmond. 
They also did a large iron business, receiving cargoes 
from England and Sweden. They always had Swedish 
vessels coming in loaded with cargoes of iron to their 
consignment. 

"The store of Boorman and Johnston was on South 
street [No. 57] a long time. They then removed [their 
warehouse] about thirty years ago to [119] Greenwich 
street directly opposite Albany street. It was an im- 
mense store, with a very large yard. Here were erected 
sheds and iron bins. 

"In 1835 Boorman, Johnston & Company received 
a consignment of immense iron })illars. I believe they 
came from Stockholm. They did their best to sell 
what nobody wanted. Finally, they set a mason to 
work, took out the under front wall of their great store 
in Greenwich street and placed the pillars underneath. 
There they remain to this day to be seen by any curious 

[115] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

person, and I fancy these were the first iron pillars 
ever made use of in this city. 

"In 1828 Adam Norrie came out from Scotland 
and was taken in as a partner of B. & J., and the firm 
had 'Company' attached to it.* 

"They were the largest Madeira merchants, and 
received immense quantities of that wine every year. 
From Italian ports they received large consignments. 

"Probably there are more merchants in this city, 
who were once clerks with Boorman, Johnston & Co., 
than with any other house. It would be a curious mat- 
ter to see the list." 

John Johnston continued to l)e a member of this 
(irm for thirty-one years and only severed the connec- 
tion in 1844 because of ill-health. Many years later, 
after Mrs. Johnston's death, when the contents of her 
house were divided among her heirs, huge demijohns 
and magnums of Madeira and other wines were found 
in the attic, labeled "Sent on voyage to India and back 
in 1819," some labels showing that the journey 
had been made twice. These undoubtedly had been 
so sent by Boorman, Johnston & Co., as a sea voyage 
was supposed greatly to improve the flavor of these 
wines. 

The house in Greenwich Street, for which Mr. 
Johnston paid, unfurnished, $125 a month, was not a 
large one. Rents were high and good houses hard to 
find. It had only two parlors on the first floor, a long 
narrow hall, not over three or at most four feet wide, 



* Boorman, Johnston & Co. first appears in the New York Directory of 183!£ 
and it was probably at this time that Adam Norrie, who had been their book- 
keeper, became a partner. 

[116] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

extending the whole depth of the house, and in the 

rear an enclosed piazza and a winding stairway to the 

two upper floors. The 

bedrooms also were 

small. John wrote to 

his father in 1827, "We 

have now four [children] 

of our own alive and 

one adopted, which fills 

our parlour very well." 

Mr. Howard Sher- 
man, a nephew of Mrs. 
Johnston, now in his 
eighty-eighth year, re- 
members this building 
well and says, "I used 
to stay with Jimmy in 
the old house in Green- 
wich Street and we both 
slept in a little trundle 
bed drawn out from un- 
der Aunt Johnston's 
bed, which was in the 
second story front 
room." 

Here all their five 
children were born — 
John Taylor, 1820, 
Andrew Taylor (who 
only lived four months) 1821, James Boorman, 1822, 
Margaret Taylor, 1825, and Emily Proudfoot, 1827. 
Mr. Johnston had not, however, lived long in this home 

[117] 




THE DOORWAY OF 16 GREENWICH STREET 



JOHN JOHNSTON OP^ NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

before the prevalence of yellow fever in the neighborhood 
gave him no little anxiety and was one of the reasons 
which later induced him to remove his family to the 
country during the summer months. Entries in his 
journal of 1819 give a graphic account of the visitation 
of that year. 

"Septem. 6th. Some alarm having existed for one 
or two days on the subject of yellow fever the Board of 
health this day made a report of some cases in & near 
the Old Slip & recommended the removal of the in- 
habitants from between the Coffee House Slip & 
Coenties Slip from South, Front, Water & The East 
side of Pearl Streets . . . 

"Septem. 11th. Dr. Dewitt died of yellow fever. 

"Septem. 13th ... 4 or 5 cases . . . some in Front 
St. immediately behind our store — we therefore have 
removed to my house in Greenwich St. Many are 
shutting u}) their Houses & Co. Houses. 

"Septem. 14th. The movement from the 'pro- 
scribed district' general— an order of the Corporation 
for compulsory removals if tiecessary. 

" 15th Septem. The proscribed limits now almost 
deserted. 

" 16th Septem. Four new cases reported besides that 
of Mr. Gilbert Aspinwall who is now at the House 
Jamaica — an order of the Board to abstain from water- 
ing the streets. 

"17th Septem ... a good deal more alarm — many 
moving out of town & the lower part of the city pretty 
generally evacuated. One case reported at the foot 
of Rector St. which seems rather too near home. 

"18th Septem. This morning the death of Mr. 

[118] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

Aspinwall & of his young man Johnson produced a 
prodigious sensation. Removal from all parts of the 
city common, from the East side almost universal — 
Broadway filled all day with loads of goods & furniture 
going out of town. Some of the public offices removed 
up to the upper part of Broadway. 

"20th Septem. Excha. at Washington Hall where 
the Brokers also meet instead of Wall St. The entrances 
to the infected district shut up by Posts Boards & Rail- 
ing. Only one new case reported but strong rumours 
of many others that had been suppressed . . . 

"21st Septem. Banks had a meeting & resolved 
not to remove for the present. Still Wall St. has a very 
desolate appearance. 

"22d Septem. Five new cases — Mrs. Smith Mrs. 
Copland & one other death . . . Mr. Boorman returned 
to Town & we removed our Counting House to 84 
Chamber St. 

"24th Septem . . . rather close weather which is 
thought unfavorable to the health of the town. Two 
new cases — both as usual, from Old Slip. 

"25th Septem . . . made up our mind to go to New 
Haven on Monday week." 

Mr. Johnston now felt that he had waited too long, 
for on the day following the last entry, he found on 
reaching home, that his wife had gone to bed with a 
high fever. For a week she continued very ill, the 
fever sometimes more and sometimes less. It was 
ten days before she was well enough to be taken to 
New Haven by her husband, whose journal does not 
say whether it really was a case of yellow fever or not. 
On October 22d, no new cases having developed since 

[119] 



JOHN^JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

a frost which occurred October 13th, "the Mayor 
issued his proclamation of the city being free from 
fever," and they returned to New York. 

In 1822 there was a recurrence of this epidemic, 
with several cases in Greenwich Street, and Mr. 
Johnston promptly removed his family to a house in 
Bloomingdale near his father-in-law's home, where 
they lived during the two succeeding summers. 

Few people had summer homes in those days, and 
it was the custom for an entire family to visit a watering 
place during the hottest part of the summer. When 
we read of the fatigues and difficulties of travelling and 
the discomfort of the hotels, we wonder they did not 
prefer to suffer at home. Mrs. Johnston was, however, 
a woman of much spirit, not to be daunted by incon- 
venience or hardship. Once when they were travelling 
through the White Mountains in a closed carriage, she 
wrote, "I thought my poor neck would have been 
dislocated jerking my head from side to side that noth- 
ing might be lost," but added with commendable 
cheerfulness, "I shall be much benefitted by the 
journey, jolting over rough roads always does me 
good." More than once they had a "scramble for 
beds but the Ladies had enough while the Gentlemen 
stretched themselves on the floor with their Clothes 
Bags for Pillows." 

In accordance with the above custom, the whole 
family, including "John Taylor," "Jemmy" and 
"John Sherman," accompanied by two servants, a 
pair of horses and a wagon, started in 1825 for Schooley's 
Mountain. During this absence they attended a church 
where, the journal chronicles, "the service commenced 

[120] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

at 10 1|2 o'clock & continued with an intermission of 
only half an hour, until near 3 o'clock" . . . [The clergy- 
man's] two discourses today, altho' delivered with 
force and rapidity, took 2 hours & nearly 10 minutes 
& his prayers being also long he must have spoken 
nearly 3 1|2 hours in all. On his return home he again 
preached to people of colour & he has meetings of one 
kind or another to attend almost every day in tlie week. 
For all this labor in two congregations containing 
upwards of 300 families he receives only $700 pr. ann. 
without any House or Glebe." 

On the next "trip" of which we have any account, 
little "John Taylor, N. Y.," aged nine, wrote the 
journal. The family went first to Saratoga and after 
ten days proceeding to Schenectady, took a boat on 
the Erie Canal, which followed the banks of the Mo- 
hawk. Utica he referred to as "a pretty village." 
They continued on the canal until they reached Niagara 
Falls, travelled by steamboat down the St. Lawrence 
to Montreal and Quebec, and returned home via Lake 
Champlain and Lake George. 

The next year they spent three weeks at Saratoga, 
and one of the first things John Johnston did, a custom 
pursued wherever possible, was to subscribe to the 
circulating library on his son John's account as well as 
on his own. 

On all these trips they were accompanied by Mrs. 
Johnston's nephew. He and his cousin, six years 
younger, were called respectively "John Sherman" and 
"John Taylor," the latter name clinging to John 
Taylor Johnston even after his college days were over. 
As years went by, John Sherman, who w^as a charming 

[121] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

but somewhat wayward boy, craved more change and 
adventure than he could get in his aunt's household. In 
1829, he was sent to his uncle Andrew Taylor, in Liver- 
pool, and shortly thereafter was allowed to realize his 
great longing and go to sea on one of his uncle's ships. 

Not long after his return from Europe in 1819, Mr. 
Johnston redeemed the promise made to his brothers 
William and Robert and arranged for their coming to 
America. William arrived in New York in 1819, and 
for a year or two was employed in his brother's office, 
after which he went to Petersburg, Virginia, where 
John had friends. There he married and spent the 
remainder of his life. Robert came over in 1821 and 
settled at Richmond, Virginia, becoming a partner in 
the commission house of Triplett & Johnston. Later he 
returned to New York. Alexander, the youngest brother, 
who had "preferred rather to remain at home & be a 
Lawyer or something," in 1835 changed his mind and 
sailed for Charleston in one of his brother John's ships. 

For a number of years John Johnston had been a 
prominent member of the St. Andrew's Society and in 
1831 became its president. The dinner that year was 
given at the City Hotel and took place, as was customary 
in those days, at five o'clock in the afternoon. The 
usual "standing" toasts were drunk among which were — 

" The day and a' who honor it." 

" The Land o' Cakes." 

" The land we live in." 

" The land of our nativity." 

" Breathes there a man with soul so dead 
Who never to himself hath said, 
' This is my own, my native land' ? " 

[122] 




.mai{(;aket tavloh .loiixsio.x 

Alto IT ]S-,'S 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

John's brother Alexander, who was present at 
many of these dinners, gives a graphic account of one 
of them : 

"There were about a hundred as Lang lean hungry 
looking Scotchmen as you would ever wish to see . . . 
at last— Up struck the Bag Pipes 'till roofs and rafters 
a' did DirK and in we rushed to the dining room . . . 

"And now for the eating and drinking; you may 
talk of your Pumpkin Pies, your Jellies & your Jams 
and your French cooking but with our party it was 
wha to eat the most in the shortest time, so as to get 
at the Drinkables . . . 

"The night went round with song and clatter; 

And ay the yill was growing better; 

The Bailie told his querest stories; 

The compy's laugh was ready chorus; 

McCorquo's face as long 's a mile — 

Did ghastly grin, a dreadful smile: 

Poor Smith who could not use his Pegs; 

Sang a long song about —Cork legs — 

And Rob, after some drinks «S: banter; 

Got up and gave us Tarn o' Shanter. 

Thus songs and tales and Toasts went right, 

Until the witching time of night. 
"Suffice it, that the Mirth and Hilarity of the Evng. 
kept pace with the Bottle (and that was by no means 
slow) until the clock struck 12 it being then Sunday 
morning." 

As the city developed and prosperity increased, it 
became the custom for people of means to have their 
portraits painted by the best artist available. Rem- 

[ 123 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

brandt Peale was one of these, a man of no mean 
ability, and in 1826 John Johnston engaged him to 
paint his portrait, giving him "$50 on a|c." Two 
years later, the portrait being still incomplete, he was, 
according to the note book, given the remaining $100 
"for which painting to be finished." Mrs. Johnston's 
portrait, a pendant to this, bnt not painted by the same 
hand, was probably done at very nearly the same 
time. 

Three years later a pictiu'e was made of the four 
children, who formed a very attractive group — a 
group unhappily not long to remain unbroken, for 
on May 30, 1881, John and Margaret Johnston 
had the great sorrow of losing their youngest child, 
Emily Proudfoot, tlien only three and a half years 
old. This was a grief from which the mother with 
(hfficulty recovered. Her friends said that she never 
ceased to mourn for her baby, and John Johnston 
himself wrote a year later, "This day recalls painful 
recollections. It was on this day last year my dear 
Emily was given up by the Doctors." 

In the spring of 1831 Mr. Johnston, with a number 
of his neighbors, decided to build a row of houses for 
themselves on the north side of Washington Square, 
which was then so far uptown that it was for all prac- 
tical purposes in tlie country. They agreed upon 
similar plans and all the houses in the present block 
between University Place and Fifth Avenue were con- 
tracted for at the same time. The land belonged to 
the corporation of the Sailors' Snug Harbor, but the 
dwellings were owned by the following gentlemen, 
who erected them: 

[124] 




JOIIX JOHXSTOX S FOUR f'HILDHEX 

1 s;; 1 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

No. 1. W. B. Lawrence; occupied later for a 
number of years by Stephen Allen, who was a member 
of the original Croton Water Commission. This house 
is now occupied by a great-grand-daughter of John 
Johnston, Mrs. William A. W. Stewart, and her 
family. 

No. 2. W. B. Lawrence; occupied later for a num- 
ber of years by Shepherd Knapp. 

No. 3. Henry Rankin; occupied from 1843 until 
1868 by Jonathan Thorne. This house was after- 
wards used as a foundling asylum, and in 1884 was 
altered into a studio building, the facade being then 
changed. 

No. 4. Samuel Thomson ; later occupied by Thomas 
Garner, whose widow lived in the house until 1878. 

No. 5. Edward A. Nicoll; occupied for a number 
of years by Gen. James Talmadge, at one time our 
representative at the court of Russia. Later Mrs. 
Richard Alsop lived here until 1877; later still Mrs. 
George M. Woolsey, and afterwards Charles W. 
Gould. 

No. 6. John Johnston; later occupied by Saul 
Alley, whose widow continued to reside here for 
many years. Afterwards Mrs. William Redmond 
owned the house and her family still live in it. 

No. 7. John Johnston; his widow lived here until 
1879, since which time his grand-daughter, Mrs. Rob- 
ert W. de Forest, and her family have occupied the 
house. 

No. 8. John McGregor, Jr., whose widow lived 
here for many years after his death. 

No. 9. John Morrison; later occupied by George 

[ 125] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

Griswold, whose widow continued to live here until 
her death about 1877. 

No. 10. William and Robert Kelly; later occupied 
by John C. Green, whose widow continued to live 
here until her death in 1893. This house was after- 
wards the residence of Bishop Henry C. Potter and 
later that of Mayor George B. McClellan. 

No. 11. Thomas Suffern, the only widower in 
"The Row;" occupied since 1874 by his daughter, 
Mrs. Edward N. Tailer, and her family. 

No. 12. Samuel Downer, Jr. 

No. 13. James Boorman; occupied later by his 
daughter, Mrs. Josiah W. Wheeler, and her family. 

In 1872 William Butler Duncan combined Nos. 
12 and 13 into a double house for his own residence. 
This was, until 1904, occupied by Mayor Edward 
Cooper. 

The original plan provided for lots about twenty- 
seven feet front and this is the widtli of the first five 
houses. Bui Nos. (I to 13 are wider, these eight 
houses having been erected on nine lots. Mr. 
Johnston secured two of these thirty-foot plots and, 
wishing to obtain a larger house for himself, re- 
tained thirty-two and one-half feet for his own resi- 
dence. No. 7, building No. G upon the remaining 
twenty-seven and one-half feet. 

The ground rents of the houses on Washington 
S(]uare were at first $130 per annum for the narrower 
and $150 for the wider lots, and a memorial signed by 
all the lessees appealed to the Trustees of the Sailors' 
Snug Harbor to make these rents perpetual, they 
having complied with their leases and having, accord- 

[126] 



EARLY MARRIED DAYS 

iiig to the document, "erected houses at least three 
stories high at vast expense, which has enhanced to a 
great extent all the neighbouring property." Their 
co-lessees under similar obligations had "on their part 
done nothing, ])iit have awaited without any risk or 
the expenditure of any money the result of your me- 
morialists' expenditures . . . Your memorialists would 
respectfully represent that great objection exists, on 
the part of the Public, to make purchases or to loan 
money on houses of the great value of these erected by 
your memorialists without having a perfect security 
as to the ground rents that may hereafter be exacted 
from the lessees of the lots aforesaid." Needless to 
say, the memorialists did not receive a favorable 
answer. 

The exteriors of the houses were alike and the 
interiors differed only slightly. The fittings were 
similar — the mantels, for instance, which were beau- 
tifully carved, being made in I^eghorn, Italy, from 
statuary marble. The same handsome gilt and bronze 
chandeliers were also to be found in a number of the 
houses. 

In later years, when Mrs. Also}:>, Mrs. Alley, Mrs. 
Johnston, Mrs. McGregor, Mrs. Griswold and Mrs. 
Green, who were all intimate friends, had each lost 
her husband, this block was known as "Widows' 
Row." 

While their house was being built, Mr. Johnston 
and his family took a journey to Europe, moving into 
their new home on their return, in November, 1833. 



[127] 



CHAPTER VI 
TRIP TO EUROPE 
1832-1833 

THE business affairs of John Johnston having 
prospered greatly, he decided in 1832 to take 
his family on a pleasure tour through Europe- 
Accordingly, he and his wife with their three children, 
John, James, and Margaret, aged respectively twelve, 
nine and six, embarked on May 10th, in the sailing 
ship Formosa for Havre. The weather was very rough 
at first, and the father of the family had to wait 
upon his party of five, as even the "chambermaid" 
was sick. Amusements on board were not many; 
they had a swing put up for the ladies, and for Sun- 
days, writes "John Taylor, aged 12," "We have 
brought Dr. John Mason's sermons and I generally read 
one to my father & mother every Sunday. Mother 
also hears James & I our catechism." 

On June 2d they landed at Havre and, the fare on 
shipboard having been very simple, Mr. Johnston 
evinced great pleasure over the "Bouillies & dishes 
w^ith gravies" and the "Salads & Pattes. " Two days 
later he wrote, "I have a pain in my left foot!" 

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TRIP TO EUROPE 

Seventeen years before, at the age of thirty-four, 
as has been said, he had had his first attack of gout, 
and had written in his journal that he could not un- 
derstand why one so abstemious should be afflicted at 
so early an age with this troublesome disease. He 
began shortly after this time to frequent "baths," 
"drink waters," etc., both at home and in Germany, 
but with little success. English, Scotch and French 
doctors gave him contradictory advice. 

"Dr. Abercrombie of Edinburgh," he wrote in his 
journal, "recommends simple diet, not mixed or 
variety — Forbids Claret & Beer but permits a couple 
of Glasses of Sherry after Dinner, and also recom- 
mends abstinence from acids. In France to drink 
weak Brandy & Water instead of Wine." Sir Henry 
Halford (of London) differed from Dr. Abercrombie 
in condemning all acids — said that "total abstinence 
would be injurious rather than beneficial;" thought 
that "good chiret taken in quantity not over one pint 
a day would not be injurious and that animal food in 
moderate quantity might be taken with impunity if 
not too late in the day." Dr. Henry Holland, seen 
later in London, "listened to my statement and, as 
they all do, referred me to his book. He said I had 
done wrong to abstain altogether from wine, as a 
couple of glasses of good wine after dinner promoted 
digestion and half a glass in the forenoon with a 
cracker or biscuit would do no harm." 

At Genoa in 1833, he was already obliged to go 
sightseeing in a sedan chair. As he advanced in years, 
the attacks became more severe; in 1835 we find him 
starting for the Virginia Hot Springs on crutches, and 

[ 1-29 1 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

in Paris, 1843, confined to his hotel for nearly four 
months. At this latter time his toes were affected one 
after another, discharging chalkstones from various 
openings, and his son John wrote, "Until all the stones 
have come out he cannot be much improved." In 
later years his knuckles were affected in the same way. 

All drugs except colchicum failed to afford relief, 
and as it was constantly necessary to increase the 
doses, the doctors, fearing that the drug might cease 
in time to be effective, recommended a "Cure" at 
Wiesbaden. This, alas, left the patient worse off than 
before and justified the judgment of his wife, who 
previously had written, "I feel now convinced that it 
is much better for him to be in a place where he is not 
tempted to fill his stomach with mineral water every 
day." 

Mr. Johnston early recognized the fact that his 
attacks of gout were periodic, and in later years, that 
they were of weekly occurrence. He endured this inflic- 
tion for thirty-six years, but notwithstanding his suf- 
ferings was rarely discouraged. The very first day 
that he was able, he would go to church or to his 
counting-house, and in spite of his crippled condition 
took two extended tours in Europe, travelling and 
sightseeing every moment that freedom from severe 
pain would allow him to do so. He also continued his 
voluminous journals, the one describing his travels in 
1843-'45 being closely written and filling two good 
sized volumes. 

From Havre in 1832 the family went immediately 
to Paris, although they heard startling accounts of the 

[130] 



TRIP TO EUROPE 

cholera there. These do not seem to have worried 
them, nor were they alarmed when, journeying in 
Scotland a little later on, they passed through a town 
where this epidemic was raging and where Mr. John- 
ston wrote: "The Cholera is very destructive at 
])resent & we saw one quarter of the Churchyard en- 
tirely full of new Graves, in many of which four bodies 
are buried." 

They spent a month in Paris. The Continental 
observance of Sunday, or lack of observance, according 
to Mr, Johnston's views, was a constant distress to 
him. " It seemed strange to us & very shocking to our 
religious feelings to see the people at work, shops & 
Theatres open as on week days . . . This day seems to 
be utterly desecrated in Paris. It is the day that the 
King chooses to review his loyal troops & the National 
Guard of Paris." 

After their stay in the French capital they went to 
I..ondon and there made many preparations for their 
more extended trip, Mr. Johnston purchased for 150 
guineas a huge travelling carriage or "chariot," for 
which he had the most remarkable trunks made — a 
large flat one, over four feet square and eight inches 
deep which was strapped on to the top of the carriage, 
and others queerly shaped that fitted under the rumble, 
the postillion's dickey, etc. All these extraordinary 
trunks were found in the attic of No. 7 Washington 
Square, after Mrs, Johnston's death in 1879. 

In this carriage with post horses they started for 
Haugli of Urr, stopping on the way at Birmingham, to 
visit Mr. Johnston's brothers, Samuel and James. 
Here he saw his sister Dorothea, now a school-girl of 

[ VM ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

sixteen, whom, however, he did not recognize, as she 
was only two years okl when he was hist in Scothmd; 
also his l)rother Alexander — "a strapping young man 
6 feet high." He gave them all handsome presents 
and directed James to put Dorothea "to a better 
school," for which he agreed to })ay "£40 or £50 per 
annum if needful." 

The occupants of the "chariot" then continued on 
their way, passing Flodden Field, "which Mrs. J. & 
myself," John wrote, "saw with renewed interest — 
John Taylor with exstacy." In passing Abbotsford he 
heard that Sir Walter Scott was still alive but lingering 
in a hopeless state and observed, "His death will be 
a great loss to this part of the country on nuuiy accts." 

From Al)botsford it was not far to Moffat, and they 
went over to Dumcrief to tea. "Aunt Jane, now in 
her eightieth year . . . was delighted to see us and had 
provided sumptuously for us and we sat down in her 
small cottage to the number of twelve persons. Before 
eating we had a delightful ramble by the bonny banks 
of IVIoffat Water . . . and had plenty of gooseberries." 

Near Dumfries they visited "Dalskairth," the beau- 
tiful estate of James Lenox, in whose New York office 
John Johnston had begun his business career. He 
showed them his fine gardens, deer forest and fishing 
streams. In 1818 Mr. Lenox had permanently retired 
from the firm of Lenox & Maitland and had returned 
to Scotland to live at Dalskairth, which was in the 
Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and therefore not far from 
the Haugh. 

John Johnston was now, after an absence of thir- 
teen years, again nearing his old home in the heart of 

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TRIP TO EUROPE 

Gray Galloway — the country which, in the uplands, is 
all granite boulders and stretches of purple heather, 
while below, in his early days, were "lanes" of water, 
marshes and moss-hags — the land of which Crockett 
so loves to tell, which used to be "as it were, all in 
hummocks and tummocks, with green wet ])atches 
between, over which at most times of the year one 
must leap." It was (piite different now, and Mr, John- 
ston wrote: "Everywhere we found the Mosses smok- 
ing, the plan being now to pare off the top & burn it 
for manure and afterwards to drain & sow: — and 
some very good crops are thus obtained from the other- 
wise barren moors." 

A drive of a few miles l)rought them to TTaugh of 
Urr, where they found the family all well; Jolm John- 
ston, the grandfather of the children, whom the latter 
saw for the first time, being "in excellent health tho' 
now nearly eighty." They spent the next day at the 
Haugh and enjoyed a "stroll among the green fields." 

On William Johnston's invitation they paid him a 
visit at Kirkcudbright, and the day being Sunday, 
John Johnston made the following comment: "It is 
pleasant to observe how quiet & orderly a Scotch 
Town is on the Sabbath. Altho' this is a seaport, & 
altlio' there was noise enough until near midnight 
last night, yet today all is quiet & not a creature to be 
seen in the streets except those who are going to or 
coming from Church." 

After calling on other old friends, John Johnston 
took the road for Balmaghie, stopping on the way at 
Boatcroft to see old William Geddes, now in his eighty- 
sixth year, the father of Tibbie Geddes, who once 

[133] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

found the younger John, "greeting by the burn side." 
From there they passed by his birthplace at Barnboard 
and, as we read in the journal, "proceeded to Balma- 
ghie Churchyard to see my mother's grave — perhaps 
for the last time until I also be gathered to my fathers." 

In Edinborough, where they arrived in the middle of 
August, they rented a new house. No. 1 Carleton Place, 
Regent Terrace, and filled it with hired furniture. 
This house, still unchanged, has a beautiful situa- 
tion, the Terrace, high above the surrounding country, 
commanding a fine view of Holyrood Palace and of 
Arthur's Seat. Mr. Johnston could not look at Holy- 
rood Palace without deep commiseration for the un- 
happy Mary. "I constantly have a kind of awe on 
me when I visit this building rendered venerable by 
its antiquity & by its association with the independence 
of Scotland. The certainty too . . . that the rooms, 
furniture &c. are the same that were used by the 
unfortunate Mary more than 250 years ago communi- 
cates a certain feeling which it is impossible to de- 
scribe, and gives rise to a train of melancholy musings 
which to me have a peculiar charm." 

In September the boys were entered at the Edin- 
borough High School near-by, continuing their studies 
there for about a year, except for the period between 
March 16th and July 16th, 1833, when they travelled 
on the Continent with their parents. The children 
stood well in their studies, even little "Mag" at one 
time claiming two ha'pennies from her father for 
having been Dux twice at her school. The parents 
wrote home that James had turned out to be a good 
scholar, and that John Taylor learned well but was 

[134] 




HOLYROOD PALACE AXU ARTHTtR 8 SEAT 
AS SEEN FROM REGENT TERRACE 



TRIP TO EUROPE 

very thoiiglitless. When the boys left the High School, 
their father mentioned, with evident pride, that John' 
Taylor Johnston received the prize of fifth Dux in his 
class of one hundred and twelve boys. 

The children were taken, as "their weekly reward 
for good conduct," to the camera obscura, the au- 
tomaton exhibition, etc., with which they were greatly 
pleased. They were extremely intelligent and full of 
individuality. In nine-year-old Jim's letters, which are 
much more spontaneous than those of John, who 
rarely mentioned anything more entertaining than a 
sermon or the weather, the sufferings of a younger 
})rother from the arrogance of one of earlier birth are 
amusingly depicted. "I think John takes rather to 
many airs upon himself (as I think You will be told 
when you come back) but let that pass." He also 
told of a new minister with a nose "rather too much 
like that of the Christian who only allowed himself 
four glasses of wine," and added by way of postscript, 
"As Jenny Deans said, 'Excuse bad Speeling & Gram- 
mer as I have a bad pen!' " 

Their pleasures were very simple. Being o-ood 
Scotch Presbyterians, they of course had no pres'ents 
on Christmas, but on New Year's Day John Taylor 
wrote that he received "the first volume of the New 
Casket, a small box of sugar plums & a silver eye- 
glass." On his father's return from an absence, the 
journal continues, "He brought me a book c'alled ■ 
'Sketches from Nature;' James, 'Natural Magic;' & 
sis, 'Natural History.'" During their stay in Edin- 
borough the boys were delighted by a visit from their 
cousin, John T. Sherman, who had arrived at Liver- 

[135] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

pool from Savannah on one of his uncle's sailing ships, 
the John Taylor, and now spent his "shore week" 
with them. 

On Thursday, June 1st, John Johnston made the 
following entry in his journal: "This is the Sacra- 
mental fast throughout the City & very strictly kept, 
all the Shops &c. being shut." 

In Scotland at this time the "Sacramental fast" 
was an annual or semi-annual day set apart for humilia- 
tion and prayer. It was usually observed during the 
week preceding the celebration of the Lord's Supper 
and on this day all business was suspended. At the 
Preparatory Service held at this time, a large pewter 
medal called a "token" was given to the members of 
the Scotch Presbyterian Church who were deemed 
worthy to join in the Lord's Supper, to which no one 
was admitted without a token. An attack of gout, 
however, prevented Mr. Johnston from being present 
at the Communion service on Sunday. "My foot is 
not well enough to permit me to go to church, at which 
1 am sorry as I had intended to join in Communion 
with Mr. Marshall's for which jmrpose I had ob- 
tained a token." 

In January Mrs. Johnston went to Glasgow to 
visit her relatives, and Mr. Johnston left for Galloway 
to see his family there. He made his home, during this 
visit, with Mr. Lenox at Dalskairth and was feted by 
all his old friends. After nightly dinners for three 
weeks with all kinds of good things to eat and, pre- 
sumably, to drink, it is not surprising that he barely 
reached Edinborough in time for another severe attack 
of gout. 

[136] 



TRIP TO EUROPE 

A journey to the Continent had been planned for 
the spring of 1833, and on March 16th, liaving already 
sent their travelling carriage on board the boat for 
London, Mr. and Mrs. Johnston left their "little 
daughter" and her nurse at the house of Miss Miller, 
who was to take charge of them during the parents' 
absence, and embarked with the two boys. On shi})- 
board they had a funny fashion of sitting in their 
carriage on deck, or even sleeping in it, if it was hot or 
close below, which must have afforded immense en- 
tertainment to their fellow-travellers. 

From London they went to Calais, where they had 
the pole of the carriage taken out and a pair of shafts 
put in, which enabled them to harness "three post 
horses abreast, who went at a kind of jog trot & looked 
almost like English cart horses only . . . handsome 
with rope and leather harness;" they also had "a 
Postilion with a thundering Pair of Boots, cracking his 
whip round his head, as if he set the World at defiance." 

At Paris they took rooms in the Hotel Meurice, and 
to reach their parlor had to mount one hundred and 
seventeen steps — a hard tax on the father of the family. 
Here they were joined by a Mr. and Mrs. Magee of 
New York, who, in their own carriage, were to make 
the trip with them. 

On March 29th, they all left Paris and, travelling via 
Cannes and Nice, arrived at Genoa. The country near 
Chalons reminded Mr. Johnston of the banks of the 
Connecticut between Hartford and Northampton, but 
was more fertile on account of the irrigation. He tells 
of their arrival at Ventimiglia where "we found the 
whole town in motion. We w.ere received by the 

[137] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

Priests & their Pupils outside the Gates who all lifted 
their hats & bowed — by the officers & soldiers at the 
Gate who presented arms & by the People in the 
streets bowing & lifting their hats as we passed — & 
indeed the streets were so thronged there was hardly 
room for the carriage to pass. We thought it was 
some great festival & had marked the people down as 
the most polite in the world; — but soon after we found 
out the secret. They took us for very different char- 
acters; not plain Republicans but Scions of Royalty. 
It appears the Ex Vice Queen of Italy (w^idow of 
Eugene Beauharnais) left Nice this morning also on 
this route — & they mistook our Cortege for hers. Hence 
the attentions we received." 

As they passed from France into Italy, he ob- 
served: "In personal filthiness & rags the Italians 
are rather worse than the Provencaux, altho' they are 
bad enough. The women work by the streams & spin 
by the road side on the old fashioned distaff as the 
French do. The men make the beds cook the victuals 
and lounge about the Houses . . . One remarkable pe- 
culiarity of the peasants is that however meanly clad 
they always have a kind of cloak thrown around them 
& muffled up over their chin. This is frequently noth- 
ing but a parcel of Patches so that they are to appear- 
ance worse dressed than the meanest Beggars in 
Scotland . . . Monks of all orders, Priests & Friars are 
as thick as Hops in the street." 

A great annoyance suffered in Italy was in connec- 
tion with the post-horses, the Post Master insisting on 
their taking more than were really necessary. There 
was always "a battle about four Horses & two Pos- 

[138] 



TllIP TO EUROPE 

tilions to each carriage, which was renewed & fought 
over at each Post witli varying success — at one Post 
it was carried by our courier before the Governor, 
who decided in his favor, & sent a Gen d'Arme to 
enforce tlie decision; but this did not prevent the same 
attempt at the very next Post." Througli these dehiys 
they sometimes did not arrive at their destination until 
ten o'clock at niglit. 

When, on April 'ilih, they came in sight of Rome, 
tliey felt greatly disaj)pointed, for they had read about 
the seven hills on which it was built and expected to 
find it on a high and commanding situation. Their 
first day in the Eternal City was a strenuous one. 
They began at the Piazza del Populo and the Corso, 
visited the Triumphal Arch of Septimus Severus, 
through which passed the Sacra Via, viewed the re- 
mains of the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, the columns 
of the Tem})le of Concord, the Temples of Antoninus 
and of Jupiter Stator, the remains of the Temple of 
Peace and of the palace of Augustus on Mont Palatinus. 
Next came the (jilded House of Nero, the Coliseum, 
the Arch of Constantine, the Arch of Titus at the en- 
trance of the Forum, the Church of St. John Lateran 
and that of St. Mary Majeur. "We then took a drive," 
Mr. Johnston cheerfully adds, "in the course of which 
are the Acjueducts of Appius Claudius, Nero and 
Caracalla. Round the wall near the Flaminian Gate, 
by wdiich we again descended to the Piazza d'Espagna, 
and arrived at our hotel hungry & tired enough at (i 
o'clock, when we dined!" 

John Johnston had had few opportunities to see 
good pictures, and some of his comments are rather 

[139 J 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

amusing. Of those in the Borghese Palace he wrote: 
"Many of them struck even me who have no critical 
knowledge of art as being beautiful . . . Guido's St. 
Sebastian with three arrows in his body struck me 
more than any other. Some pictures were pointed out 
by the Guide as of first merit of which the colours 
appeared to me very indifferent & had I met with them 
anywhere else I should have thought them poor pic- 
tures." Perugino he did not like — his paintings "are 
so stiff & highly coloured like Chinese pictures." Of 
the Tribune in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence he re- 
marked, "There are two Venuses by Titian, which 
altho' painted entirely without drapery, & in an attitude 
so voluptuous as to shock the delicate feelings of our 
American ladies, are astonishing productions of the Pen- 
cil & seem to attract more attention than even the Mar- 
ble Venus which stands below them." 

St. Peter's impressed him greatly; he thought it 
"beautiful beyond conception." There he heard 
some most wonderful chanting. "One Eunuch, as I 
supposed from his appearance & voice, performed 
two or three solos in a voice I never heard equalled. 
I shut my eyes & tried to fancy the voice a woman's 
but there was a something about it still that differed 
from that, altho' certainly it was not that of a man." 
On leaving the church, he writes, "our own carriages 
not having arrived, a cardinal's coachman waiting for 
his master offered his services & brought us home in 
fine style for little more than double pay." They saw 
a newly-made Neapolitan Cardinal returning from 
mass, and the journal continues, "In his own splendid 
red carriage he sat with four footmen swinging behind 

[ 140] 



TRIP TO EUROPE 

— followed by two other carriages of his ow^i with each 
two footmen in his livery. This is humility with a 
vengeance." 

They "did" Rome in nine days, which at the pace 
begun on the first day would seem quite possible. A 
week was then spent in Naples; from thence they took 
boat to Leghorn and drove by way of Pisa to Florence. 
In Rome John Johnston had ordered marble- 
topped tables; in Leghorn, four statuary marble man- 
tels, "like Mr. Suffern's," busts of Wellington and of 
Hamilton, alabaster vases, colored marble fruits, etc. — 
all for the furnishing of the new home in New York. 
He very likely also purchased while in Rome all the 
copies of old masters and originals by poor modern 
ones with wdiich his house at Washington Square was 
filled. 

From Florence they travelled through Bologna and 
Padua to Venice. To this lovely }>lace they gave only 
two days, Mr. Johnston greatly admiring its appearance 
from a distance but not finding much to be commended 
in the city itself. He remarked that he had seen the 
bronze horses of San Marco in Paris in 1814 and made 
the same comment about the Apollo Belvedere and 
the Laocoon just seen at Rome. The mosaics of San 
Marco he thought "frightfully ugly being surrounded 
with tawdry gilding," but added, "some of the Pillars 
are beautiful." 

He developed a discriminating taste for other forms 
of beauty and after seeing the Milanese women ex- 
claimed, "The Ladies [are] some of them very hand- 
some & if the women would only wear the mantilla of 
Genoa, instead of the black Lace of Milan, thrown 

[141] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

over their heads they might compare favorably with 
those of England." 

The family now returned in their lumbering car- 
riage over the Simplon Pass, from the summit of which 
they started at a little after four in the morning, in order 
to get ahead of a troublesome fellow-traveller who 
usually preceded them with four carriages and took 
all the horses. They bought watches and musical 
boxes at Geneva, though they generally had to mount 
to the seventh story to find the workshops, so necessary 
is it in these industries for the workmen to have the 
very best light. 

A test of their remarkable endurance was made 
during their journey through France. At Avalon they 
were roused at three a.m. and after their morning 
coffee took the road. They arrived at Fontainebleau 
at half past nine that night, having travelled over 
eighteen hours and having covered one hundred and 
two English miles. 

At Paris, still intent on furnishing, they visited a 
looking-glass manufactory and selected plate glass for 
the mirrors in the Washington S(puire house, one of 
whicli was, at the suggestion of the manager, silvered 
in their presence. They also l)ought a })icture clock 
for the parlor. 

Here the Magees left them, and they continued 
their journey through Brussels and Antwerp to Lon- 
don. In the latter place they once more heard Dr. 
Chalmers preach and again met him personally, much 
to Mr. Johnston's enjoyment, who remarked: "His 
flights are sublime but his pronunciation is worse than 
most of the Scottish clergymen of the present day, 

[142] 



TRIP TO EUROPE 

being that of Fifeshire which is sometimes unintel- 
ligible even to me. Crowds of the nobility & of the 
first 2:>ersons in Tow^n were there, . the streets in the 
neighbourhood being lined on both sides with private 
carriages." Dr. Chalmers reciprocated this interest 
and admiration, once writing to the Rev. John Mc- 
Millan that "Kirkcudbrightshire might well felicitate 
herself on having given birth to such a noble-hearted 
Christian philanthropist as Mr. Johnston of New 
York." 

While in England he and his wife were hospitably 
entertained, and in his journal he comments on the 
difference between the dinners in London and the 
course upon course served on such occasions in New 
York: "The dinners set out here are not so lyrofuse 
as those we set out in America, but I think are in better 
taste . . . The stile is pretty much what it was in Holland 
Eighteen years ago. The meats after being set on the 
table are taken off & cut up by the Servants & handed 
round to the guests. The wine also is poured out by 
the Servants & the master sits in the middle of the 
table — all retire at once in about two hours after 
sitting down." 

Before leaving London the carriage was insured 
and shipped to New York, though it is hardly be- 
lievable that it was ever used there, and after an ab- 
sence of four months the family returned by boat to 
Edinborough, where they found their "dear little girl" 
and Beulah, the nurse, well, and where they received 
letters telling of the death, in New York, of Mrs. 
Johnston's father, John Taylor. 

Dundee was the place from which Boorman & 

[143] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

Jolinston's principal shipments were received, and be- 
fore sailing for home, Mr. Johnston went there to settle 
certain business details, and also made a final visit to 
his Galloway friends and relatives. He once more saw 
his mother's grave, about which he wrote: "My feel- 
ings were much overcome at the thought of what my 
good mother was & that my Dust was in all human 
probability destined to mingle with that of far distant 
lands." This was indeed the last time that he ever 
went to the Balmaghie Churchyard. 

He breakfasted with his father at the Haugli and 
attended church with him, where "Mr. McWhirr dis- 
coursed with his usual ability for nearly 3 hours." 
His old teachers were not forgotten, nor the old family 
servants; with one he ate curds and cream, and to 
several he promised small annuities, one of them re- 
ceiving a pension for over twenty-five years. His father 
and his stepmother were "much affected at parting." 

In August the family bade adieu to Edinborough 
and took ship from Glasgow for Liverpool, where they 
visited the "seat" of Andrew Taylor, and John John- 
ston wrote, "Walked on 'Change' where I saw many 
of my old friends." 

Much to the delight of the boys, they took a trip 
on the " celebrated railroad " to Newton. " The velocity 
with which we went & came," one of them exclaims, 
"was truly astonishing. The distance is 16 miles 
which we did in 30 minutes, being nearly 35 miles pr. 
Hour — and yet in looking out on the fields you were 
not sensible of the greatness of the speed — but when 
you looked at the walls and other objects close to the 
carriage, particularly the perpendicular rock through 

[144] 



TRIP TO EUROPE 

which the railway is sometimes cut, & which approaches 
near to the carriage on both sides, the rapidity with 
which they seem to pass gives rise to a sense of 
Giddiness." 

Before sailing, John Johnston sent gifts in money to 
the family and to many charities, including the Dum- 
fries Infirmary and the poor of Kirkcudbright. That 
he was always ready to help his people in a pecuniary 
w^ay, is evident from the numerous presents he gave 
them when "at home" in Scotland, or which he sent 
them from New York. He paid for his sister Doro- 
thea's schooling, offered to aid in establishing his sister 
Margaret on a farm, provided she would "make a 
match near home, so that she could still watch over 
the declining years" of her parents, and gave each of 
his brothers substantial assistance in business. He did 
not, however, believe in extravagance and wrote to his 
brother James that he feared "Doro. had spent <£18. 
1. 6 in last six mos. for Clothes & extras, which was a 
great deal too much." He had a decided objection to 
feeling that anyone was imposing upon him, and when 
he thought that some of his relatives were asking too 
much, they were informed that he had left them "hand- 
some remembrances" in his will, and that thereafter 
any sums they might receive would be deducted from 
the legacies he had designated for them. 

He constantly assisted in building both churches 
and schools in Scotland, frequently paying as much as 
half of the cost and also contributing to their support. 
Kirkcudbright, Dumfries, Laurieston, Balmaghie, 
Tongland, Girthon, Anwoth and many other places 
had substantial help of this kind from him. 

[ 145] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

The long journey abroad was now over, the family 
having travelled many thousand miles, always with 
great appreciation and enthusiasm. John Johnston 
was an intelligent observer; while his artistic sense had 
not been much developed, he noticed critically the 
country through which he passed, made comments as 
to the people, crops, cattle, fences, irrigation, etc., and 
spoke particularly of the trees, disliking the clipped 
and dwarfed ones, although his taste lay more in the 
way of having things neat and tidy than picturesque. 

On entering Switzerland from Italy, he had ex- 
claimed: "What a contrast the Canton of Vaud 
furnishes to that of the Vallais! Here all has an ap- 
pearance of industry & comfort — there of beggary & 
starvation! Here, for the first time almost since we 
have entered France, we find beautiful forest trees in 
their natural state, not stunted and crowned with 
unsightly bumps . . . No lazy lounging sleepers by the 
way side & no Beggars — the people decently dressed 
& men & women busy in their Vineyards." 

Their sightseeing was of the most vigorous kind. 
Sometimes, as has been said, they would arise at three 
A.M. and after drinking coffee, would drive several 
hours before taking breakfast. Apparently they ate 
only during the times when the horses were being 
changed. At one time they arrived at St. Jean de la 
Garde at half past ten p.m., "When,'' Mr. Johnston 
writes," the night being fine & the Hotel not promising, 
we concluded to take our supper there & proceed on 
our way. We accordingly left this place at midnight, 
it being clear moonlight, and proceeded towards 
Nismes, 36 1|4 miles farther . . . arrived at Nismes at 

[ 146 ] 







CITY HOTEL 

ONE BLOCK ABOVE TRINITY CHURCH 



TRIP TO EUROPE 

8 1|^2 o'clock . . . having been 24 hours in the carriage 
saving only the 1 1|2 hours at supper." They never 
seemed to write ahead for rooms and sometimes had 
to go to four or five hotels before securing accommo- 
dations for the night. 

On September 16th they sailed for New York on 
the North America with twenty-five passengers all 
told. When the voyage was half over, the "gambling 
passengers," as Mr. Johnston called them, wished to 
make a "lottery" betting on the day of arrival. It is 
amusing to note that while neither he nor Mrs. John- 
ston was willing to purchase anything so questionable 
as a lottery ticket, yet "to gratify the children" they 
"let each of them take one, 10s. each." On the Banks 
they " hove too the Ship & tried for some cod-fish but 
without success the water being 70 or 80 fathoms." 
The voyage lasted for five weeks and they landed in 
New York on October 22, 1833, after having "travelled 
by land and water about 13,000 miles." 

Following their usual custom, they drove to a 
number of hotels before finding such rooms as they 
needed and finally settled at the City Hotel, then the 
best one in town, situated on Broadway just above 
Trinity Church. Here they remained until November 
2, 1833, when, all the furniture having been trans- 
ferred from Greenwich Street to "Waverly Place, 
Washington Square," and their European purchases 
having been unpacked, they moved into their new 
home. 



[147] 



CHAPTER Vll 
WASHINGTON SQUARE 

1833-184^2 

THE new house at Washington Square, or, as it 
was called, "Washington Parade Ground," was 
greatly appreciated by all the family, who en- 
joyed living in a real home after their long journeyings. 
It was surrounded by green fields, very few dw^ellings 
having as yet been built so far uptown. The houses 
in "The Row" all had beautiful gardens in the rear 
about ninety feet deep, surrounded on two sides by 
white, grape-covered trellises, with rounded jirches at 
intervals, and lovely borders full of old-fashioned flowers. 
Mrs. Johnston, who was })articularly devoted to her 
garden, which she could reach by a flight of steps from 
her back parlor window, levied contributions in the 
way of peonies, lilies of the valley and other flowers 
on her various sisters who lived in the country. She 
was especially fond of "old man's beard," of which she 
ahvays carried a sprig to church when it was in season. 
The garden at No. 7 remained in very nearly its orig- 
inal condition until an addition to the house containing 
the new library was built over it in 1894. 

[ 148] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

The family now settled down to a regular routine. 
The boys attended school a little farther out in the 
country, which they reached by climbing fences and 
going across lots. If on their way they found a build- 
ing under construction, they would abstract some 
bricks, a tile or two and, of course, some shavings; 
then making a little oven, each would produce a potato 
from his pocket — with a result which may easily be 
imagined. 

In the Square itself there was a pump with a long 
handle, which afforded the boys no end of amuse- 
ment. All the occupants of "The Row" sent here for 
water for their weekly washing because of its peculiarly 
soft quality. A comical story is told about this old 
pump. One of the neighbors requested his coachman 
to fetch a couple of pails of water from it for Mary 
the laundress. The coachman said that this was not 
his business, and upon being asked by his employer 
what his business was, replied, "To harness the horses 
and drive them." Thereupon he was requested to 
bring the carriage to the door. The gentleman then 
handed the laundress with her two pails into it and 
bade her go and draw the water. After this the coach- 
man preferred to perform the duty himself. 

The occujjants of No. 7 did not have to depend 
entirely upon this source of supply for soft water, as 
they had a large rain water cistern in their own yard — 
so huge, in fact, that the man who, in later years, filled 
it up said it was large enough for a horse to swim 
about in. 

Mrs. Johnston, who was essentially a domestic 
woman, took the greatest j^leasure in her numerous 

[ 149 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

closets, which gave her unHmited possibiHties in the 
way of systematizing her belongings, and was never 
happier than when going around the house with her 
key-basket on her arm, weighing out currants and 
raisins, filtering the wine, or marking towels and 
})utting them away by dozens. She had the tiniest 
brougham that ever was seen, and with it accomplished 
innumerable errands. Under the coachman's seat was 
a kind of box with a drop door opening inside, into 
which she could shove her many parcels. 

While her husband, because of ill-health, was with- 
drawing himself more and more from general society, 
she was becoming more social. She had a beautiful 
large house, a dining table which would seat over 
twenty, and she loved to accept the hospitality of her 
neighbors and to entertain them in return, although 
one of her sons was often obliged to take his father's 
place at table. Mr. Johnston commented pathetically: 
"Your mother is becoming so gay that I sometimes 
wish she had another beau . . . Such gatherings are 
anything but agreeable to me but as we have young 
people coming forward, I think it is not our duty to 
withdraw ourselves from our circle of society until 
they can take our places." 

When any old friends arrived from Scotland, Mrs. 
Johnston "made a dinner" in their honor; when Mr. 
Boorman brought an "Epergne" as a present from 
Europe, she gave an "evening company" to exhibit it, 
and when the heirs of John Taylor presented a pair 
of silver pitchers to her husband as a token of their 
gratitude for services rendered, he wrote: "It was 
lucky that they came so late in the season that your 

[150] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

mother had not a chance to make a l)arty to show 
them off, as in the case of Mr. Boorman's Epergne, " 
complaining half whimsically in a later letter to his 
son John — "Your mother is well and sends her love 
but she has such an amount of talking to do that she 
has no time to write," 

There is a little book that goes by the familiar name 
of "Grandma Johnston's Dinner Party Book," which 
gives certain interesting if homely details of her en- 
tertainments; in it we find records of many an " Evening 
Party" and "Dinner Party," or of a more informal 
"Tea and Coffee Drinking," and twice of a "Bridal 
Party. " She always gives the list of guests and some- 
times makes remarks about them such as — "The 
ladies were a great deal dressed," or "Everything was 
very nice but company rather stiff. " We also hear how 
large the table* was — "Two ends with large and small 
leaf, large enough for an Evening Tea Party if you do 
not have oysters," which were always in tureens at the 
two ends of the table, or that "The middle table, two 
ends & two leaves, will hold 18 persons." 

The dressing of the "Epergne" is an important 
item, and we find such entries as "In the middle the 
Epergne with glass dish filled with fruit and geranium 
leaves;" "Epergne, artificial flowers, natural leaves;" 
"Flowers from our own garden;" "Disappointed in 
flowers, dressed the Epergne with Rose & Fancy Mot- 
toes very prettily;" or more frequently it is "Superb 
boquet of flowers from Mrs. Green," who lived at 
No. 10 Washington Square. 

She seems to enjoy a variety and receives at times 

* This table is now used as the tliiiing table in E. J. de F.'s country home. 

[151] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

in the "Front Parlor" and at other times in the "Draw- 
ing Room," as the back parlor was called. Sometimes 
they dine in the "Drawing Room," at others in the 
"Front Parlor" and again in the front basement room, 
which is their ordinary dining room. Once she has a 
large supper served in the two front rooms of the 
second story. She also tries experiments in the lighting 
of the rooms and usually leaves the second room un- 
lighted or the folding doors closed until supper time, 
even if there are thirty or forty people in the one re- 
maining room. The lighting of the "chandelier in the 
Drawing Room" is mentioned as an occurrence of 
great importance. This is the gilt bronze one which 
now hangs in the parlor at No. 7 Washington Square, 
and was then used with candles. 

The guests sit in a large circle around the two 
parlors, walk round and round in couples, or listen 
while Mrs. Johnston's nieces, Janet Sherman and Susie 
Taylor, sing "Love's Young Dream" and "When the 
Swallows Homeward Fly." Sometimes, but rarely, 
there is dancing, and then only when a guest volunteers 
to "play on the piano," while the company dances the 
polka or the lancers, or, more rarely still, a Scotch 
reel. 

Mrs. Johnston is of a frugal turn of mind, and 
although she is anxious that everything shall be hand- 
some and that her guests shall have all they want to 
eat, still she can not bear to see waste, and hence there 
are notes — "Only half eaten" or "The Table was 
almost cleared." No one who reads the list of dishes 
served at one of her dinners can, however, accuse her 
of providing too sparingly. At a family dinner of four- 

[ 152 ] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 



teen persons, served 
following menu: 

Dinner 
2 Soups 
2 Fish 

Fillet of Beef 
Capon in Jelly 
Tongue do 
Boiled Turkey 
Sweetbreads 
Terrapin 
Ducks & Quails 
Partridges 
Croquets — Oysters 
Chicken Patties 
Mushrooms 
Vegetables 
Rolls 



at five o'clock, they have the 



Dessert 
Plum Pudding 
Mince Pie 
Charlotte de Russe 
Meringues 
Cocoa nut Cake 
Jelly 

Blanc Mange 
Candied Fruit 
Brandy Peaches 
Ice Cream 4 qts. 
Grapes & L. Apples 
Mottoes— Cake 

Too much Dessert 
Middle Table, 2 ends 



A Social Cheerful Party $71.93 

One of her friends, after suggesting a number of 
eatables for an evening entertainment, advises her to 
have also: 

" Cake in forms — - 

Hounds standing on a rock — or birds in a nest 

Or chanticleer in his pride, or rabbits in pairs 

Or any shapes you choose — the animals iced. 

(Weller makes them to order.) 

"If you do not have these you will require Con- 
fectionery Baskets or something of the kind, high, 
to stand between the flowers, up and down. 

"Also, Three Vases Flowers — Let Flora be gen- 
erous.'* 

[ 1-53 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

There was a good deal of evening visiting 
among the ladies of the neigh})orhood. Mrs. Johnston 
would "run in" to see Mrs. MeGregor, Mrs. Griswold, 
Mrs. Alley or Mrs. Green, and they would return the 
compliment. These informal calls were made in the 
library in the second story, which was comfortable and 
homelike, although the furniture was covered with 
slippery black haircloth. The parlors had stiff rows 
of damask-covered chairs and sofas around the walls, 
and marble-topped tables in the middle with mosaic 
representations of the Roman Forum or of Pliny's 
doves, while worsted-work mats, daguerreotypes, ala- 
baster vases, stone fruits, etc., were used as ornaments. 

In one of the parlors hung a picture of a Swiss 
valley with a church in the foreground, in the steeple of 
which was a clock that used to strike the hours and play 
a tune, the hour being then repeated by the clock of an 
unseen and more distant church. This " picture clock, " 
})ought in Paris, was for many years out of order and 
silent, but on taking it, in 1880, from its long accus- 
tomed place, it began, like the harp in " Jack and the 
Beanstalk," to cry aloud and was carried off, protesting, 
to the storeroom, where it continued for some time to 
remonstrate against its removal, by playing its pathetic 
little tune. In these parlors Mrs. Johnston received her 
friends on Friday afternoons, Friday being, as it still is, 
"Washington S([uare Day," but it was not customary 
on these occasions to provide any refreshments for the 
guests. 

It must not be thought that John Johnston's wife 
neglected him in any way, for she was devoted to her 
husband and he very dependent u})on her. In a letter 

[ 134 ] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

to her soil she refused an invitation to visit him at New 
Haven, saying: "What would your father do without 
me should he have one of his gouty attacks, from which 
he is now scarcely a week free?" Through all his 
years of ill-health her husband had no other nursing, 
although from an early date he was obliged to have 
the assistance of a "man servant." It was his wife, 
however, who made and aj)plied his numerous ])()nllices 
and her solicitous care increased with his increasin<j: 
infirmities. "The less I visit the more indifferent 1 
become about it," she wrote. 

With Mr. Johnston the clay was always bcgnn by 
family prayers. 'I'hese took place in the front basement 
room, which, as has been said, was the dining room. 
Between the windows stood a little table, on which lay 
the Johnston family Bible and that of John Taylor as 
well, while in a drawer of a desk were to be found the 
"Farmer's Almanac," and the "New England Primer" 
with its ((uaint little pictures and long s's, from which 
the children could learn that "In Adam's fall we sinned 
all," or that "Young Obedias, David, Josias all were 
pious." 

On Sundays, old and young attended the Scotch 
Bresbyterian Church in its new building on Grand 
Street, in which Mr. Johnston for many years held 
the position of Elder, his son John later filling the 
same office. The pastor at this time was the Rev. 
Joseph McElroy, who served this organization nearly 
fifty years, beginning his ministry in 18*22, in the old 
Cedar Street church, from w hich he went with his con- 
gregation to Grand Street, and finally in 1853 moved 
with them to the edifice which they had built in Four- 

[ 155 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

teentli Street just east of Sixth Avenue. "He became 
one of the great figures in the New York pulpit, a noble 
and eloquent preacher," who often gave them sermons 
over an hour and a half long, which ran from " Firstly " 
all the way to "Fifthly" or even "Ninthly"; after which 
usually came the phrase — "A few more words and I 
have done," indicating that the discourse would be 
finished in about fifteen minutes. 

Even after this old church had moved to a fashion- 
able locality in Fourteenth Street, it still adhered so 
strongly to "old school" principles that, as late as 1867, 
about one-third of the congregation left when the old 
precentor, who used to strike his tuning-fork on the 
railing of the gallery to get his pitch, was supplanted 
by an organ. It was in this building that the great 
debate on the revision of the Westminster Confession 
of Faith and also the trial of Dr. Briggs took place. 

One of the quaint customs of this church was the 
arrangement made for the communion service; tables 
spread with a "fair linen cloth" were set the length of 
the middle aisle, as well as in the transverse aisles. 
Benches were placed on either side of the tables, and 
the communicants left their pews and took seats on 
these benches, where the elements were passed from 
hand to hand. Mr. Johnston and his wife for many 
years occupied the first seats at the central table. 

On their return from service the mother, after ques- 
tioning the children as to the text and the "Heads of 
Discourse," would mark the former in a big Bible 
which always lay on the table in her room, and could 
in this way, if not from memory, tell whether Dr. 
McElroy was repeating himself. 

[150] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

Alexander always spent Sunday with his brother's 
family at Washington Square, and was a great favorite 
with "John's young ones." He joined them at church 
and walked home with them for dinner, after which 
came a second service and then tea, when they usually 
ate "oat cakes and Palmazan cheese," of which they 
were all very fond. They spent the evening reciting 
hymns and "saying their catechism," this latter being 
the Westminster cate- 
chism, which consists of 
one hundred and seven 
long and difficult ques- 
tions and answ^ers. Alick 
complained that he was 
a little hurt when Mrs. 
Johnston, to quote his 
own words, "gave me a 
Scotch Mother's Cate- 
chism to refresh my mem- 
ory, although I think I 
am pretty fair at my ques- 
tions considering." After 

his brother's family had gone to Europe, he wrote a 
quite pathetic account of his visiting, after church, the 
closed and padlocked house at Washington Square. 

"The Long 'Un," as his nephews dubbed Alick, 
was very fond of horseback riding and with "little 
Jimmy" took frequent rides up the Bloomingdale 
Road before breakfast, often on the back of one of the 
coach horses, and sometimes returned with a "bockay" 
in his hand for Margaret. Of these excursions the 
aforesaid little Jimmy writes: "The I^ong 'Un & I 

[1.57] 




"the long UN 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

had a fine ride this morning — he came running up about 
half an hour after his time. I had just mounted & was 
riding down towards the University when I saw him 
away down at 4th Street. As soon as he saw me 
(thinking I was going off without him) he raised a cry 
like the sound of a Howl in the Wiklerness, and came 
up University Phice as fast as a pair of deuced long, 
ugly legs could carry him. We had a fine ride liow- 
ever. 

"John Taylor" and his uncle used to make long 
"Pedestrian Excursions" together, often extending 
I hem to a distance of two hundred miles or more. 
Tlicy enjoyed these trips extremely and John's mother 
was always easy in her mind when she knew that her 
son was with Alick. The latter had a genuine admira- 
tion for his brother and wrote home to his Scotch 
relatives: "John and family are all well — a fine fam- 
ily. Mrs. Johnston a very kind indulgent pious woman 
— and John is truly an exemplary man & what is more 
I believe him to be a sincere Christian." 

Mrs. Johnston's nephew, John Taylor Shernum, 
was also intimate in the household and made his home 
with her part of the time, but his roving sea life left 
him little time ashore. He sailed in various capacities 
on several of the ships owned by his Uncle Johnston 
and his Uncles Robert L. and Andrew Taylor, finally 
having command of the Naj)oleon. In 1841 this ship 
was lost in Mobile Bay, but through no fault of Ca})t. 
Sherman, as the pilot was in charge at the time. 

After this he was given command of another ship, 
but once when he did not bring the vessel into port on 
time, his Uncle Johnston wrote him rather sharply 

[158] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

that he had been dih^tory in business. His feelings 
were terribly hurt, and he went off and disappeared, 
his family hearing nothing of him for a long time. 
Finally, they learned that he had died in London on 
October 1, 1844, and later, a heart-broken letter was 
received from a young English girl who claimed to 
he his widow, which, however, could never be veri- 
fied. 

He was evidently a fascinating fellow and w\as called 
"the handsome captain." His "Aunt Johnston," who 
was exceedingly fond of him, always made excuses 
when his ship did not arrive on time, and according to 
one of her friends, would "feel his death quite as much 
as his own Mother." 

A very old family friend w\as George Johnston, 
the brother of William of Kirkcudbright. He was 
Mr. Johnston's first friend in New York, had his in- 
terest so much at heart and was so unfailingly kind 
that John, a few years after his arrival, had written to 
William, "You may rest assured that I shall take no 
steps without your brother's advice and approbation." 
When the latter was quite an old man, with a "caustic 
temper" and already lame in one leg, he had the mis- 
fortune to fall when getting out of an omnibus, and the 
wheel passed over his good leg, breaking it in several 
places. After this accident he was confined to the 
house and became very irascible. "The Old Gentle- 
man is as crusty as ever," his friend wrote of him 
at this j)eriod, " and told Mrs. Kennedy the other day, 
as you know he told my Br. Robert once, that he knew 
her time was precious & he would not detain her — so, 
said he, 'Good bye.'" 

[159] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

His nephew, George Jr., had been a "thorn in the 
flesh" from the time of his first arrival with John in 
New York, He was an altogether worthless young 
fellow, unwilling to work, very extravagant, and always 
expecting his uncle to get him out of the troubles into 
which his own follies led him. His uncle finally cast him 
off, and John Johnston, who from the first had tried to 
help him in every way, and had been exceedingly pa- 
tient through all these years, also became entirely dis- 
couraged. When in 1840 he married, the latter could 
not contain his indignation and exclaimed, "The 
great ass! He has never been able to support himself 
and now he is about to raise a family of Paupers!" 
Two years later George was imprisoned and convicted 
of a criminal offence, and his long suffering mentor, for 
the sake of the young man's father, paid the entire 
claim, a very large one, and succeeded in having him 
liberated. This was one of the reasons why old 
William so adored his friend. 

About 1837 Boorman, Johnston & Co., transferred 
all the dry-goods part of their business to Wood, 
Johnston & Burritt. Robert Johnston, through his 
brother's influence, had become a partner in this con- 
cern and had had assigned to him the latter's "l|10th 
of the profits of the co-partnership." Later, when 
Robert had built the Dolphin Mills at Paterson, New 
Jersey, Alexander became a member of the firm in his 
stead, and it was then called Burritt & Johnston. 

John Johnston was by habit an early riser; he 
breakfasted at seven o'clock each morning, reached his 
counting-house very early, and returned to dinner at 
four, while Mr. Boorman did not go down town before 

[160] 




ROBERT JOH X.ST( JX 

AGED THIRTY-SEVEN 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

ten and stayed late, a condition of affairs which cansed 
mnch grnmbling among the clerks. 

One of these clerks was James Boorman Johnston, 
who in 1840, when he had been for some months in his 
father's office, wrote to his brother as follows: "1 
have been transferred at Mr. B.'s request from father's 
to his room and yon may judge the consequences. 
Instead of sitting cross-legged on a high stool sucking 
my thumbs and reading the Brother Jonothing, I find 
occupation enough for both thumbs and legs. The 
way it came was . . . one of Mr. B's clerks was absent 
and Mr. Boorman came in and asked Mr. Sampson 
if he could have one of his youths for the morning — 
granted — and your humble servant was the hon'd 
mortal — vae mihi. My endeavours happened to please 
him and he asked Father for me, which my unnatural 
parent granted." A month later his father said: 
" James comes on famously in the other office and is in 
high favour with the ruling powers. Poor fellow, he 
gets more cold than warm dinners now, as he seldom 
gets home before 5 o'clock." 

One matter gave Mr. Johnston a great deal of 
worry about this time — a worry lasting over a number 
of years. His wife's father, John Taylor, who died in 
June, 1833, had made him one of his executors, and 
almost immediately afterwards, Andrew, the son who 
lived in Liverpool, began to make difficulties about the 
terms of the will. His sister wrote with reference to 
him, "He seems as obstinate as a mule." This trouble 
continued until a final settlement was reached, princi- 
pally through the efforts of Mr. Johnston, in June, 1840, 
when the latter received from the heirs of John Taylor 

[IGl] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

two very beautifully embossed silver pitchers, engraved 
with appropriate inscriptions, as a token of their 
gratitude.* 

Much of John Johnston's interest was centered in 
the New York University, which was located on Wash- 
ington Square. In 1830 he had become one of its one 
hundred and seventy-five Founders, or shareholders, 
and a member of the Corporation. In 1835 he was 
elected a member of the Council, and a little later Vice- 
President, both of which offices he held until 1845, 
when he was obliged to resign on account of ill-health, 
his son John, then only twenty-seven years old, being 
by unanimous vote elected a member of the Council in 
his stead. It was here that the son had received his 
college education, having entered as a sophomore in 
1836 and having graduated in 1839. 

The father was actively occupied with the affairs 
of the University and gave it generous financial assist- 
ance. His letters are full of allusions to it — he gloated 
over the increasing number of students, and at the time 
when the officers and faculty were planning to add a 
medical department, wrote, "Our selection of pro- 
fessors is a promising one. We stole a march on the 
profession here or we should have got no rest in our 
beds at night for applications." 

Other matters, both political and financial, inter- 
ested him. Although becoming more and more of an 
invalid, he was usually very conscientious about casting 
his vote, but in November, 1840, wrote to John: "You 
used to say that the side I voted on always lost. 
The Whigs cannot blame me for their defeat this time, 

* These pitchers are now owned by his grandson, John Humphreys Johnston. 

[162] 




THP: XEW YORK ITNIVERSITV 
WASHINGTON SQUARE 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

as I did not vote at all. I entirely disapprove of their 
management. That Mr. Grinnell and other respectable 
men of the party would have organized the plan for 
importing voters I do not believe, but think they winked 
hard while it was done by the understrappers. The 
Tammany party is so low that to vote with them would 
be contamination and so I maintained a 'dignified 
retirement.'" 

The financial disasters that had spread over the 
country in the late thirties and early forties caused a 
reorganization of many local banks and on January 
20, 1841, we find him writing: "I am still able to at- 
tend to my out of doors duties. — lately I have been 
performing a very unpleasant one at the Bank of Amer- 
ica, as Chairman of a Committee for reducing the Ex- 
penses of the Establishment. We have dismissed 8 
Clerks, and reduced the Salaries of the remaining 17, 
including the Presidt. and Cashier, so as to save up- 
wards of $10,000 per annum in the expenses of the 
Establishment!" 

He wrote frequently to his parents, now^ growing 
more feeble each year, and on April 29, 1841, gave 
Robert, who was returning after twenty years absence 
to Scotland, a letter to carry to his father. Neither 
Robert nor the letter arrived in time, for old John 
Johnston had died at the very time it was being written, 
three days after his faithful wife had breathed her 
last. 

While Mr. Johnston was not unprepared for these 
events, they, in a way, emphasized his own growing 
limitations. " John leads a very quiet and retired life, 
seldom sees company but just sits and reads; he gen- 

[163] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

erally drives down to his oflBce about ten or eleven 
o'clock and leaves about three for the day," Alick had 
written of this period. 

His library was a great resource to Mr. Johnston 
during this time of increasing disability. Always a 
great reader, he had collected a large number of books, 
many of which were bought in Europe; some of them 
were valuable, but as his library was for use only, we 
iiud no mention in his papers of a rare or first edition. 
In his will he divided the books between his two sons. 

Three large bookcases, one of them containing a 
writing-desk, reached almost to I he ceiling of the library. 
This was a large sunny room in I he second story, facing 
Washington Square, and here John Johnston spent a 
great deal of his time reading his books and writing his 
letters. The impossibility of reaching the upper shelves 
without assistance obliged him to have a flight of wind- 
ing steps made for the purpose. This piece of furniture, 
built of as handsome mahogany as that of the dining 
table, is still in existence and is fully seven feet high; 
it moves on castors and has banisters and a handrail 
to match those of the main staircase in the house. His 
grandchildren always dubbed this erection "the pul- 
pit," and many times did it figure in their games, being 
often called upon to represent a "dungeon tower" with 
a distressful maiden waving from the top of it. 

Not being able to take much exercise, a "joggling" 
or "dispepsy" chair was procured for him — a veritable 
instrument of torture in which, by violently working 
its two handles, he threw himself up and down, thus 
securing somewhat the same exercise one would get 
by riding, without stirrups, on a horse whose trot was 

[164] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

hard! This chair also figured in many of the chihh'cn's 
games in conjunction with the "pulpit." 

Margaret or, as they affectionately called her, 
"Mag," was an extremely attractive young girl, and 
her letters are bright and sprightly. When she was 
fourteen, she wrote to her brother John: "You say it 
is a shame for all the young ladies to get married 'nou\ 
but on the whole it is better for them to clear out before 
Lydia Bally and Maggie Laughter come on the stage, 
& it will save them (the old young ladies) the ])ain of 
seeing tliemsclves (juite neglected." 

She was at this time studying at the Misses Green's 
school at No. 1 Fifth Avemie, and her father said of 
her, "INIag is a great student, — studies till 9 p.m. and 
lights her lamp & sets to again before day light." At 
about the same time Margaret spoke thus about her 
different instructors: "Mr. Earnest & I are coming 
on swivmigbj in our Latin. We also have an other 
young man, for Botany. Oh he's so handsome. It is 
Mr. Bigelow,— perhaps you have heard of him, he's 
very smart too." This refers to the Hon. John Bige- 
low, who on January 1, 1907, after seeing a copy of 
this extract, wrote: 

"None of the numerous testimonials of the season 
with which, by virtue of my rather uncommon longevity 
I presume, I have been honored, has touched me so 
tenderly as the extract you have sent me of Margaret 
Johnston's note. I first met her at the Misses Green's 
School and at an age when a young man of 21, if ever, 
is susceptible of the charms of your sex. She was then 
the most attractive girl that had yet crossed my horizon. 
Nothing ever occurred to change the estimate 1 then 

[165] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

formed of her, and which I hope you will pardon me 
for expressing in a learned language, especially as I 
shall use for my purpose what Lord Macaulay pro- 
nounced the finest lines in the Latin language. You 
may find them in the VIII. Eclogue of Virgil, 37th and 
following lines. 

'"Sepibus in nostris parvam te roscida mala 

(Dux ergo vester eram) vidi cum matre legentem. 
Alter ab undecimo turn me jam ceperat annus. 
Jam fragiles poteram ab terra contingere ramos. 
Ut vidi ut peril, ut me mains abstulit error.' 

"As ladies are not expected now to know Latin as 
in the days of Lady Jane Grey you will pardon me for 
trying to give the English of these lines though our 
iidiospitable language — in my hands at least — is in- 
capable of expressing all the merits attributed to them 
by Macaulay. It will however answer my present 
])urpose. 

"When thou wast but a child, I saw thee with thy 
mother gathering the luscious apples on our hedges; 
1 was your guide, I had then just entered on the year 
next after eleven and barely able from the ground to 
reach the fragile boughs! How I stared, how I lan- 
guished! How the dread intoxication overcame me. 

John Bigelow. 

her Confiteor." 

Margaret certainly was gay and vivacious, so that 
the suggestion of melancholy expressed in her letters 
to her young neighbor, Lydia Alley, must have been 
one of those brief affections sometimes assumed by 

[1C6] 




JOHN HIGKLOW 
.\(;i:d t\vkn'1V-t\v() 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

very young ladies. "I was very happy on the passage, 
more so than I expected, not but that I had my gloomy 
moments, but I chased them away & allowed not the 
demon melancholy to take possession of me/' she wrote 
to the friend of her bosom. Later she sends forth this 
impassioned question: "Lydia do you yet love me 
with your wonted enthusiasm ? I know you do; I must 
feel the conviction, or give up all confidence in human 
friendship . . . Indeed I often think I am growing too 
dull. I want life. You will scold me on my return 
more than you used to for I talk less even than I did. 
But I cannot shake off my disinclination for conversa- 
tion, & society." 

That Margaret's melancholy was not very deep- 
seated is shown by a gay letter written from Sharon 
Springs to her brother in August, 1847. "I have been 
carrying on a flirtation with Gen. Cooper a married 
man . . . General Cooper got up a coach & four, with 
four outriders the other day, and took six of the ladies 
to Cherry Valley. I drove three miles coming home, 
sitting up on the high seat beside him. Four in hand 
is the highest to which I shall aspire. What think you 
of that.?" 

Her ideas of music, especially of "piano-playing," 
were original and amusing: "1 knew you would give 
up your music. Indeed to any thinking minds the 
attention given to this branch of education, among 
our American girls, must come under the head of 
waste of time, when it is carried to such an excess. It 
is indeed very delicious to hear it, but it does not repay 
the time & labour. I am speaking particularly in 
reference to piano playing, I don't think we w'ere sent 

[167] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

into the world to thump for hours a day on Httle bits 
of ivory — then call ourselves industrious. Is this 
serving God? or doing good to those around us ?" 

James, as has been said, was in Mr. Boorman's 
office, where he seemed to give satisfaction to every- 
body. His letters are extremely entertaining and he 
often illustrated them with clever pen-and-ink sketches. 
His mother was sorry he did not go to the various 
watering places with them and thought that "Little 
Jim might enjoy himself here very well if he would be 
content to find amusement for himself to play ninepins, 
ride, walk, etc." But " Jimbo, " as he was sometimes 
called, did not care much for such things and preferred 
to travel about by himself, paying occasional visits to 
his family, though Saratoga, from which place he wrote 
the following letter could hardly have been very 
entertaining: "Me voici — in the Bar-room of the 
Congress Hall, thirsting for a Cobbler & afraid to ask 
for one at the Bar, for I have an awful suspicion that 
it is a Temperance house and I can detect no trace of 
any tipple stronger than Congress water in the room, 
and but little appearance of jollity in the population. 
There were a few very promising red noses set out as 
decoy ducks upon the Piazza as I came in, but I am 
afraid they belong to some more genial locality. Quan- 
tum mutatus ab illo! . . . Poke Wright has just come in, 
he must surely drink Cobblers." 

In his correspondence with his brother we often find 
jocose sentences such as, "I merely write to tell you 
that you are an ass/^ or "Of course the main object 
of my writing you is to give vent to the volcano of 
affection that burns in my bosom, but it also occurs to 

[168] 





JAMES BOOKMAN JOHX.STOX 

FROM A CRAYON DRAWING BY WILLIAM MORRIS HCXT 

1 S.).'} 




WASHINGTON SQUARE 

me that I deferred doing anytliing about tlie alteration 
in the stable . . . the redoubtable 'Pineher' had better 
be chained up while the men are at work, to prevent 
his running away and to preserve the integrity of 
Richardson's pantaloons — he is partial to broadcloth 
is that dog." 

Jim's description of ordering a coat for his brother 
John shows that it was as diflScult 
a matter in those days for men 
to select the colors for their clothes 
as it was for ladies: "The one 
I selected is an Olive, and I think 
a beautiful color — and particularly < -^ 
well suited to this season of the 
year — there was a bottle green 
there that was very pretty but 1 
thought it too light, and only suit- the " olive " coat 
able in my opinion for the very mid- 
dle of summer — and another tho' rather trifling objection 
to it was that those polished buttons you mention & which 
I think very pretty would not suit with it. These were 
the only two that I thought likely to suit you — there 
were some pretty browns, clarets, etc., but they look 
too warm for summer . . . the pockets as you wished 
lower than the waist . . . the edges corded & a velvet 
collar— the price $30." 

The "Son John" having graduated from the Uni- 
versity in 1839, went in the fall of that year to New 
Haven to attend the Yale Law School. His absence 
was a great deprivation to his parents, for "Jim," 
working busily in the counting-house, had to leave 
home early and return late, while "Mjig," then at- 

[100] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

tending Miss Green's school, was studying hard, so 
tliat the father pathetically said, "Mother and I are 
solitary and alone." 

He wrote to John at New Haven: "I am hardly 
yet reconciled to the vacancy of your place at table 
and I have every morning a desire to call 'John' at the 
top of the stair as I have long been accustomed to do. 
It is a sacrifice for me to part from you for so long a 
time but I hope it is for your good and I am therefore 
willing to make it . . I hope my dear John, that you 
will bear in mind that, although you are not now under 
my eye, the eye of God is upon you and that you will 
therefore conduct yourself as you must answer to Him, 
for young as you are, it will not be long, even if your 
life is prolonged to the usual })eriod of the longest life, 
until you appear before him and how few there are that 
reach their three score and ten! ! 

"Oh beware how you make the Sabbath a day for 
exercise and amusement for I have noted through life 
that this is generally the first step in the downward 
course and I never knew a man that had enjoyed the 
advantages of a Christian education that afterward 
despised and profaned the Sabbath that did not go 
to destruction." 

And in another letter he said: "I sympathize with 
you in your feelings of loneliness, for I have known 
what it was to leave home and friends . . . You may 
rest assured that you are not forgotten and there is 
hardly an hour passes in which you are not in my 
thoughts and not a night in which the question is not 
between your mother and me, 'Where is John Taylor 
now ? Is he in his room or at Aunt Sherman's ? ' At 

[170] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

dinner —'This would (or would not, as the case may 
be) please John Taylor.' Indeed, John, it is impos- 
sible for you to know^ or conceive the yearnings of a 
parent's heart. As age cree})s on, our friends, as you 
well remark, die off and it is to our children that we 
look for almost all the consolation that earth can give, 
and miserable indeed is that parent whose hopes in 
this respect are blighted." 

These letters, as well as many others, illustrate 
John Johnston's strong feelings with regard to the 
keeping of the Sabbath. He never travelled on that 
day or allowed his children any recreation other than 
attending church two or three times, repeating the 
"Heads of Discourse" of the sermon just listened to, or 
reciting their catechism and hymns. The only excep- 
tion noted was at Niagara Falls where he wrote," Think- 
ing it no harm to look at and a(hnire the wonderful 
works of God, took a walk with my children u}) to the 
table rock to look down upon the falls." He carried 
this feeling about the correct observance of the Sab- 
bath so far that he refused to meet the Pope in Rome 
because the Pontiff appointed a Sunday for the au- 
dience, and he was inexj)ressibly shocked by all that he 
saw taking place on that day in Paris. 

With all this strictness he was not really stern. Jn 
fact, his tenderness is shown in the letters just quoted. 
The year following the loss of his child he wrote very 
lovingly and with evident iuiguish of the death of "my 
little Emily," always alluded to Margaret as "our 
dear little girl," was "much affected" every time he 
visited his mother's grave, and in tears when he sat 
upon the stone where in early days she used to teach 

[ 171 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

liim his catechism. He, Hke many others, could express 
his tender feeHngs in writing, when he could not speak 
of them. His sons in this respect greatly resembled him. 

In the summer of 1835 John Johnston's family 
decided to take him to the Virginia Hot Springs, as 
lie was now "so lame as to be unable to walk a step 
without crutches." They took a steamboat at 9 a.m. 
lo South Amboy, thence railroad cars to Bordentown, 
again a steamboat to Philadelphia, where they arrived 
at 6 r. M. and had to put up at a second rate hotel. 
The next morning they were "stirring with the Lark" 
and on board the steamboat for Newcastle at 5:30 A. m., 
from which place they went by railroad to Frenchtown, 
then took another steamboat to Baltimore, which 
they reached at 3:30 p.m., and not being completely 
worn out, drove around the town for a couple of 
hours! 

The following day, they started at 9 A. m. in an 
"extra" stage for Washington, arrived in six hours, 
and again took an afternoon drive. That evening 
they slept on board the steamboat, and landed the next 
morning within nine miles of Fredericksburg. Here, 
by paying for ten seats for four people, they secured 
another "extra," and after travelling over "execrable" 
and "intolerably bad" roads arrived after four days, 
via Charlottesville and Staunton, at Warm Springs. 
It therefore took them seven long days of hard trav- 
elling from New York to reach their destination. Mr. 
Johnston, poor man, had been "so pounded as to feel 
very sore, " and was "unable to rise without assistance. " 
They remained in Virginia two months, visiting the 
White Sulphur and Hot vSprings. 

[ 172 ] 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

The return journey was even more arduous than 
the earlier one; "the stage was nearly over two or three 
times and we passed the spot where the mail had been 
upset this morning." Some of their friends who 
actually experienced such an upset had to spend the 
night by the stage in the woods. The baths not hav- 
ing much benefiteti Mr. Johnston's lameness, he be- 
came rather discouraged about the future and began 
to "fear the worst." 

June, 1836, found them again on their way to Hot 
Springs, this time by way of Winchester, where they 
attended the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Johnston 
commented on a remarkable custom that prevailed 
there: "The ladies occupy the seats in the middle 
block of Pews, apart from the men, in order, I under- 
stand, to escape from the Tobacco juice so constantly 
ejected by the latter." Near Winchester the road was 
"almost impassable, the clay being again up to the 
hubs of the wheels and pools of water that almost set 
the Horses a swimming." 

At Hot Springs they expected their party of four to 
have a double cabin of four tiny rooms — "but catch 
Dr. Goode at that," wrote Mrs. Johnston; "for no 
sooner had we our trunks &c. arranged than we re- 
ceived notice that the other part was engaged so we had 
to scroudge into one cabin." She complained bitterly 
because they had to pay "$13 a week for the baths & 
board," and added, "I think it is shameful extrav- 
agance, but we must submit." Her husband also 
considered the food deplorably bad and gave an ac- 
count of it to John: "Our Table is regularly served 
with tolerable tea, poor coffee. Hot rolls and tough 

[.173 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

steaks at breakfast — at dinner we have mutton boiled 
baked & roasted with Potatoes about the size of Wahiuts 
a few half boiled beets and a few cold string beans — 
and stale bread sour. This is our regular fare. I can 
hardly live on it . . . you would starve." 

Of his bath he said: "I got up at daybreak & repaired 
to my old spout, (of which I am to have the key every 
night by an agreement with Peter), where I had a com- 
fortable bath & returned to bed again at 5:40," adding 
a day or two later: "Deceived by the moonlight I 
got up to dress myself this morning for the Bath & 
when I had done so I looked at my watch & found it 
was only 2 o'clock! However persevered & had a very 
comfortable bath." 

On their return trip they drove to Guyandotte, 
from there took boat down the Ohio to Cincinnati, 
and again drove as far as Sandusky, where "after 
travelling nearly 60 hours without stopping except to 
change horses," the doughty tourists wrote: "we felt 
rejoiced at the })rospect of a night's i'e})ose, but on our 
reaching I he Hotel the bell of the Steam Boat was 
ringing her Passengers on board for Buffalo & as it 
was uncertain when there might be another oppor- 
tunity of a good Boat, we reluctantly left the hotel 
with our baggage & went on board." 

From Buffalo they visited Niagara Falls and re- 
turned to their Washington Square home after a 
journey of nearly 2000 miles. Mr. Johnston declared: 
"It is surprising that altho we have thus travelled 
so far over miserable roads without regular sleep and 
with our minds often excited by fear, yet we are all 
((uite well^Indeed I am much better." 

[174] 




THE CABIXS 

HOT SPRINGS OF VIRGINIA 
MR. JOHNS'ION OfTI'I'IICD THE ONE AT THE LEFT 



WASHINGTON SQUARE 

But the improvement was only temporary and five 
fruitless years followed in a search for health. Vir- 
ginia was revisited in 1837, but with little advantage to 
the invalid. In the two succeeding years the family tried 
Saratoga and Ballston Spa, and in 1840 Mr. Johnston 
announced his intention of going to Virginia once more. 
The Hot Springs, however, afforded him no relief, so 
they left and, as it were, shook its dust from their 
feet. Mrs. Johnston fired this parting shot: "Bade a 
final adieu to Dr. Goode & all the rest of the filthy 
set, for it seems a waste of time & money to come here 
as your father receives so little benefit." 

In 1841 a few weeks were spent at Lebanon but the 
experiment was not a great success. Neither were the 
White Mountains of benefit, whither they went in the 
summer of 1842. After these ineffectual journeys they 
felt that there was nothing left but Europe, and con- 
sequently the following year they again "made a trip 
abroad." 



CHAPTER VIII 
LATTER DAYS 

1843-1851 

WHEN on September 25, 1843, John Johnston 
again took his family abroad, or, rather, was 
taken by them, for he was now very infirm, 
he exclaimed: "Oh how different my health and my 
feelings now when on the wrong side of sixty to what 
they were on former occasions, when with buoyant 
health and spirits I looked forward to new objects of 
interest." 

As before, the family went by sailing vessel to Liver- 
pool, the ship carrying two hundred and thirty-two peo- 
ple all told — a greater number, as Mr. Johnston said, 
"than could be saved by boat in case of accident." At 
Liverpool they took the train for London, where they 
met Mr. and Mrs. James Colles and their two daugh- 
ters, Augusta and Frances. The Channel was crossed by 
way of Shoreham and Dieppe, at which latter place 
Mr. Johnston had much trouble with the customs. 
"As usual the officers made a great fuss about my 
evening apparel — and altho' there were only two coats 
in my trunk, one of which I had occasionally used in 

[176] 



Lu\TTER DAYS 



tlie U. States for more than a year, yet they made me 
pay duty on them." The officers also insisted on 
detaining his "paper case because they found some 
letters [of introduction] in it one of which was unfor- 
tunately sealed. " 

At Dieppe they took the diligence for Paris and the 
travellers noted a "curious mode of procedure with 
the Passengers. Instead of causing them to get out & 
go into the R. R. cars they hoist the Diligence from the 
wheels & drop it on those of the R. Road — again on 
arrival at Paris they replace it on wheels." 

The Colles family had preceded them to Paris, and 
had engaged rooms for them at the Hotel Westminster, 
renting for themselves a handsome apartment at No. 9 
Place de la Madeleine. Within a few days after his 
arrival Mr. Johnston had a very severe attack of gout, 
which affected first one part of his body and then 
another and made it impossible for them to leave Paris 
until four months later. During tliis time the two 
families saw a good deal of each other and became 
very friendly, although evidently "J. T. J." did not 
realize that he had met his fate in the person of Frances, 
the younger daughter. Augusta Colles had been at 
school with Margaret, and her brother's journal shows 
how mutual their interests continued to be. "Mother 
and Mag were engaged, with the assistance of Miss 
Colles . . . making their purchases, engaging dress- 
makers, and other preparations for the winter cam- 
paign . . . Mag commenced a short course of dancing 
lessons yesterday with the two Misses Colles & Miss 
Hunt at Mrs. Colles' apartments." 

The young people were indefatigable in seeing the 

[177] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

sights of Paris. John and his brother, accompanied 
sometimes by their friends, Drs. Metcalfe and Punnett, 
who were studying medicine there, visited the Found- 
Hng Asylum, the Abattoir, the Gobelin manufactory, 
the Morgue, and of course all the picture galleries, 
libraries, etc. John, in particular, went to all the book 
and print stalls, where he purchased a large number 
of books. He bought a Galignani guide and visited 
each quarter of the city in turn— in fact, nothing more 
thorough than their sightseeing can be imagined. He 
and Jim saw a man guillotined, and he and Maggie 
were presented at court. 

At the latter function Margaret was chaperoned by 
Mrs. James I. Roosevelt, and for it John had a "Court 
dress" made— "a single-breasted blue dress coat but- 
toned up to the chin, brass buttons, & embroidery on 
the collar, cuffs & flaps of pockets; white cassimere 
pantaloons with a gold stripe, chapeau bras, & sword." 
His journal thus describes the levee: 

"About 8 1|2 the King entered, followed at inter- 
vals by the Queen & the Due de Nemours, the first & 
last being accompanied by aid-de-camps, the Queen 
by two Ladies of Honour. The presentees were ranged 
along the sides of the rooms according to the seniority 
in standing of their Ambassadors; as Uncle Sam has 
only a Charge here at present, the Americans were 
the last to be presented . . . 

"The King spoke to each of us in English & dis- 
played a considerable knowledge of American affairs; 
the Queen (who told one of the party ' I speaks English 
very unwell') confined herself to French & spoke too 
low to be generally understood. Her hair is very 

[178] 



LATTER DAYS 

white; her general appearance is very prepossessing & 
motherly; Louis Philippe looks strong & hearty & 
as if he had a dozen years in him yet though he is now 
73. He takes pains to be civil to the English & Ameri- 
cans. As a body the Americans looked very well both 
as to dress & manners." 

At the '* Italiens " John and Jim heard such great 
singers as Mario, Lablache and Persiani, and at the 
Theatre Fran^ais had the pleasure of seeing Rachel. 
John thought the other actors and actresses *'too 
French in their style of acting" but "Rachel," he 
said, "is very impressive; she has a very excellent voice, 
a fine tragic countenance though not beautiful, & 
expresses the deepest emotions without those external 
grimaces & contortions which to a Gaul are indis- 
pensable on all occasions." When he saw her at 
another time, he mentioned that "Rachel played in 
her usual neat style" — a strange way of alluding to the 
great tragedienne. 

Mr. Johnston was much depressed by his severe 
and prolonged attack of gout. His son said, "Father 
. . . feels quite dispirited and sat all day hardly uttering 
a word;" and about the same time the latter wrote, "1 
feel out of sorts and home sick . . . my constitution 
much shattered cannot hold out much longer ... I 
am rather under the influence of what is called the 
blues." This is as much of a complaint as is any- 
where found in his writings, and in this respect his 
son John in later years, when he was ill and suffering, 
emulated his example. 

Nothing daunted, the family started, as soon as Mr. 
Johnston was well enough, for Rome. Having hired 

[179] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MEKCHANT 

another large heavy carriage or "BerHne, " they drove 
via Lyons to Marseilles, thence went by sea to Civita 
Vecchia, and so arrived in Rome on March 20th. 
There, the weather being still cold, they soon drove on to 
Naples, escorted part of the way, as a precaution against 
brigands, by a mounted soldier. At Naples they ex- 
claimed with joy, "We can now sit with open windows 
all day long . . . The outlook on the Bay is exactly 
what father wanted." After a few days the Colles 
family made their appearance in their coach, and as 
usual they all saw a great deal of each other and made 
many expeditions together. 

One of these was a drive to Baia, of which excur- 
sion John writes, "At Baia some rustics danced the 
Tarentella for our especial gratification . . . We then 
refreshed ourselves with roasted oysters & after being 
nearly upset by our drunken coachman we turned our 
heads towards Naples. On the road Mr. Colles' coach- 
man managed to run against a wall & snap off his pole 
cK: break his whiffle-tree whilst our pole went through 
his sword case." On another trip into the mountains 
very primitive means of locomotion prevailed; "all 
the horses were taken out from the carriage and 
four bullocks attached to it for 3 miles, which took 
1 1|2 hours." 

Returning via Rome and Florence, they took the 
same route as in 1832 — Bologna, Venice, Milan, and 
over the Simplon to Geneva. In Venice Mr. Johnston, 
as before, found St. Marco "tawdry & confused," and 
remarked with reference to the loungers on the borders 
of the canals: "The Italians are certainly the most 
sleepy race I ever saw, except the negroes, & I suppose 

[180] 



LATTER DAYS 

it arises in both from the same cause, namely want of 
internal resources." 

From Geneva they went directly to Wiesbaden, 
where they spent six weeks. Mr. Johnston drank the 
waters and took the baths regularly, after which John 
wrote in his diary: "It was determined that father 
should resume the use of Colchicum, as he seemed to 
remain in about the same state from day to day with a 
constant tendency to fever. This was tacitly giving 
up all hopes of his deriving benefit from the waters as 
the two are pronounced incompatible. Since then he 
has steadily improved." The improvement was but 
slight and the diary continues: "Father leaves this 
place much worse than when he arrived & it will take 
some time to place him where he then stood; but as 
the experiment of the use of the waters was one which 
might have done him good, we should all have felt 
unsatisfied if it had not been made." Colchicum was 
the only drug which had helped Mr. Johnston in the 
past, and in returning to its use the doctors greatly 
feared that the efl^ects might in time wear off, in which 
case the patient would, indeed, be in a hopeless condi- 
tion. 

On August 26th they left Wiesbaden and proceeded 
to Cologne, where John Johnston thought that the 
Cathedral looked like a ruin and predicted that it would 
never be finished, as it would cost $4,000,000 to ac- 
complish that result. Leaving Cologne, they passed 
through Holland and Belgium to Paris, and after a 
two weeks' stay in the latter place started once more 
for Italy, travelling via Aix-les-Bains to Nice, and along 
the coast of the Mediterranean to Genoa, Pisa, Sienna 

[181] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

and Rome. During this journey they had an adven- 
ture, the journal account of which deserves to be 
quoted. 

"Left Mentone at 7 1|4 o'clock amidst a torrent of 
rain, which, with slight intermissions, continued all 
day . . . 

"The Hotel at St. Remo is a miserable one and we 
proceeded on our journey till we reached the River 
Ormea which although much swollen we passed with 
ease. We then proceeded through the small village 
of Arma to the River Capriolo, on approaching which 
we were informed, to our dismay, that it was impass- 
able. After satisfying ourselves of this fact by actual 
observation we returned on our steps intending to 
sleep at St. Remo, but by the time we again reached 
the small river Ormea it had swollen to such an extent 
as to be also impassable. Here then were we in a sad 
dilemma — shut up between two rivers, unable either to 
advance or retreat — the rain pouring down on us and 
night coming on! As a last resource we drove back to 
the village and tried the miserable looking Houses in 
succession to see if any of them could take us in but 
none of them could do it, and there was no Inn in the 
place. 

"In this dreadful predicament we stood in the road, 
expecting to sleep in our carriage, but not knowing 
what would become of the Horses, when our courier, 
directed by somebody, made application at the Chateau 
of the Proprietor of the village, who with great liberality 
at once desired him to bring us all to his House and he 
very kindly received us at his door amidst the pitiless 
pelting of the storm. His stable was not large enough 

[182] 



LATTER DAYS 

to receive our carriage — that remained in the road 
under protection of our courier, who slept in it — but 
we were nobly entertained and furnished with excellent 
beds so that we were much more comfortable than if 
we had reached St. Remo. 

"The old Gentleman devoted his whole time to me 
which, however kindly meant, at last proved rather 
irksome, as his French was none of the best & mine 
still worse so that it cost an effort on both sides to 
maintain a conversation." 

The adieus a day or two later must have been try- 
ing to an undemonstrative Scot. "The parting," his 
son wrote, "was a la mode Italienne, kissing on both 
cheeks not being confined to the females. It was 
amusing enough to see father & the old gentleman 
kissing & hugging like two boarding school misses." 
They considered their hospitable lodgment a piece of 
great good fortune, for some English friends detained 
by the same storm had "had to pass the night in a 
miserable hut swarming with vermin and up to their 
ankles in water." 

The family arrived in Rome on November 1st, 
settled down in a delightful apartment on the Piazza 
di Spagna for a four-months stay, and did all the things 
that it was proper for a tourist family to do. Margaret's 
portrait was of course cut in cameo, (price lira 17.50), 
John purchased the usual number of prints, casts, 
etc. (which still ornament his former country home at 
Plainfield, New Jersey) and Mr. Johnston, who could 
at that time have bought fine "old masters" for a mere 
song, gave an order instead for a picture with "St. 
Peter's Cathedral in the background. In the front our 

[.183 ] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 



servants in the costumes of the country and employed 
in the pecuKar amusements of the place." 

They enjoyed a good deal of social life, but de- 
clined to meet His Holiness because he had appointed 
a Sunday for the audience. 
The following item written 
in John Johnston's journal 
is of touching interest in 
view of what transpired 
years later: "Beyond the 
walls of the City we stopped 
to examine the English 
Burying Ground containing 
Shelley's tomb, and the 
Protestant Burying Ground 
containing . . . that of Keats 
'whose name was writ in 
water.'" In this graveyard 
Margaret herself was laid 
in 1875. 

While the family were 
this winter in 
Rome, John and James had 
home letters telling of the 
critical state of their Uncle Alick's health. In 1844 
the latter had planned a long-anticipated visit to his 
Scotch home and hoped to realize his "dream of sailing 
on Loch Lomond, catching fish in Loch Catrine and 
chasing the Deer & the Roe on Brae Mar and the 
Grampian Hills." He had written urging " Jack," his 
old pedestrian companion, to join him, with "your 
Shoon well oiled, your knapsack on your back & your 

[184] 



spending 




ALEXANDER JOHNSTON 
AGED THIRTY-THREE 



LATTER DAYS 

cudgel in your hand ... so that I may stretch your 
legs for you in the Highlands." Jack was travelling 
with his parents and Alick had had to take the trip 
alone, little thinking that it would be such a disastrous 
one for him. A neglected cold, caught while fishing, 
developed into consumption and he returned to Amer- 
ica in a serious condition. 

On hearing this news Margaret exclaimed, "Poor 
dear Alick, we have all been so uneasy and unhappy 
about him. How dull our Sundays would be without 
him." They were never again to spend them together, 
for when they reached home in July, 1845, Alick was 
hopelessly ill at the home of his brother Robert, in 
Paterson, New Jersey. 

While in Rome, Mr. Johnston also learned through 
Mr. McMillan of the serious illness and death on 
April 6, 1845, of his old friend, William Johnston 
of Kirkcudbright. The latter was then nearly eighty 
years of age and had been very infirm for a long time. 
Alick, who had known him well and appreciated the tie 
which bound him to John Johnston, wrote to his nephew 
Jack: "And so poor old Willie Johnston of Kirkcub- 
rie — (as we used to call him) is Dead! How unfortu- 
nate that he cd. not be spared long enough to have 
seen your Father once more, I really think he wd. have 
given all he was worth for that one single priveledge 
— I never saw any man so completely wrapt up in 
another as he was in your father." 

With their usual diligence the family went sight- 
seeing early and late and when they once more left 
Rome, felt as if they " were quitting home for a second 

[185 1 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

time." After three weeks in Naples, they returned by 
sea to Marseilles, and completed their sojourn on the 
Continent by a short stay in Paris. Mrs. Johnston and 
her sons had great pleasure in visiting the Louvre, 
where they "strolled down the Grand Gallery com- 
})aring the pictures with those by the same masters" 
which they had seen in Italy and elsewhere. Leav- 
ing Paris, they spent a couple of weeks in London, 
where they saw everything, from the new Houses of 
Parliament to Mme. Tussaud's Wax Works. 

The time for returning home was now drawing 
near, and Mr. Johnston planned a farewell tour in the 
land of his birth. The "fast train" took them to Edin- 
borough across a "highly interesting and fertile country 
which it seemed a shame to hurry through at such a 
rate." After a few weeks at the latter place, during 
which time the young people spent a week seeing the 
Highlands, they all started for Glasgow to bid Mrs. 
Johnston's aunt and cousins adieu. A carriage was 
then procured and they drove all the way to Moffat, a 
method of progression which Mr. Johnston much pre- 
ferred to the railroad train. He mentions the great 
spaces filled with "unenclosed sheep walks of vast 
extent . . . green and beautiful studded as they are 
with sheep browsing or lying at rest"— a particularly 
graphic description of the Scotch hills. 

He did not visit his old haunts with the same en- 
thusiasm as formerly. He was now very infirm, his 
father and stepmother were dead, the family scattered, 
and Millbank Cottage closed. His Aunt Jane Proud- 
foot also was no more, and the only element of bright- 
ness in this last trip lay in finding his Aunt Jane's 

[18(5] 



LATTER DAYS 

nephew, William Proudfoot, who had always lived with 
her, happily married to a "nice young wife" and settled 
in her old cottage. 

The travellers reached Liverpool in due course, and 
for the first time in their lives boarded a steamship, 
the Great Western, sailing on July 5th, with one hun- 
dred and thirty passengers, among whom was their 
Paris friend, Dr. John T. Metcalfe, now engaged to 
Miss Augusta Colles. 

They landed in New York on July 21, 1845, after 
an absence of nearly two years, and remembering their 
Custom House difficulties abroad, where half -worn 
clothes were rigorously examined and duty exacted and 
where the discovery of a sealed letter caused infinite 
vexation, young John said, "The examination of our 
baggage was only a formality; pity that the English & 
French Custom Houses would not go & do likewise." 
Such a comment could hardly be made at the present 
time. 

On the dock they were, according to Mr. Johnston, 
"greeted by the news of another dreadful conflagration 
[second in importance only to the Great Fire of 1835] 
. . . My six stores in Broad St. & Exchange place are in 
ruins, and my fire stocks to the amount of nearly 50,000 
rendered of little value, but I have great reason to be 
thankful I have enough left." His son's journal gave 
further details: 

"The destructive extent of the fire was owing to a 
tremendous explosion in No. 38 Broad Street which 
proceeded as well as can be ascertained from an im- 
mense quantity of saltpetre stored in the building. So 
dreadful were the effects of this explosion that the 

[187] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

stores in the immediate vicinity were at once pros- 
trated, burying many in their ruins, the doors & win- 
dows (iron) for some distance round driven in, & such 
openings made for the fire that it became almost irre- 
sistable. Broadway is burned on the East side from 
Exchange Place to Whitehall St. & so far as the flames 
extended not a building escaped." 

The fire started in New Street on the night of July 
19th, and worked through to the buildings on Broad 
Street, where the great explosion afterwards occurred. 
A "Joint Special Committee" was later appointed to 
examine witnesses with regard to the causes of the 
explosion, some of whom gave thrilling accounts of 
their experiences. 

Timothy Waters, a fireman, described hearing the 
fire bells and starting with his engine in the middle of 
the night from the engine house — "only two of us 
having hold at first, but gained help on the way, so 
that we had about twenty men when we got to the fire." 
A bystander, Edward W. Rogers, told of his witnessing 
the disaster: "I had just time to turn round and have 
a good view of the scene, when the final explosion took 
place . . . Accompanying this last explosion was an im- 
mense body of flame, which appeared to fill nearly the 
whole block in Broad street, between Exchange and 
Beaver, and about seventy or eighty feet high; that 
swept across Broad street with the explosion, and I 
distinctly saw a number of the stores, on the opposite 
side of Broad street, fall to the ground as if thrown 
down by an earthquake. The walls seemed to fall in 
one mass." 

Francis Hart, Jr., a fireman, testified: "I was . . . 

[188] 




•riivr vs -x^-m ■sshhtxio m-^yiiOmo^ an' ■j:ai^ ftii:*A'i TiM'ji xa i>ra'jr_"TC'a;i. 



THE EXPLOSION IN BROAD STREET 
184.5 



LATTER DAYS 

on the rear of the fourth story of the chair factory in 
Broad street (No. 36) when that building took fire . . . 
when I undertook to go down, the flame and smoke 
were so great as to prevent my descending, and I went 
on the roof of the chair factory. I went along from that 
building to the corner of Broad and Exchange streets, 
breaking each sky-light as I proceeded over the roofs, 
but found no stairs leading from such sky-lights. Find- 
ing myself thus on the third building from the chair 
factory, without any means of getting dow^n, I sat in 
the scuttle. I did not then consider myself in any 
danger. I had been there about five minutes, when I 
heard the first explosion — a species of rumbling sound 
— followed by a succession of others of the same kind. 
The gable of the house next to the corner shook with 
the first and each successive explosion, so that I had 
prepared myself, if it threatened to fall, to jumj) 
tlirouo;h the scuttle of the corner house. After the 
small explosions the great explosion took place, the 
noise of which seemed to be principally below me. I 
perceived the flames shooting across the street — I felt 
the building falling under me, and the roof moved 
around so that a corner of it caught on the opposite 
side of Exchange street, and was thrown off into Ex- 
change street, but without any serious injury to my 
person. As far as I could judge, the whole roof that 
I was on moved in one piece, and the walls under it 
crumbled down beneath it." 

The picture of the explosion shown here is one of 
the "fire prints" of the time, taken from Wall Street 
looking south through Broad; the first opening on the 
right is Exchange Place, and the buildings on the 

[189] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW' YORK, MERCHANT 

corner in the act of falling are those that belonged to 
John Johnston. 

As soon as possible after the ground was cleared he 
erected large warehouses on this property, which about 
1865 were altered into offices, the entire structure then 
being known as the "Johnston Building." In 1894 
this was torn down and the present sixteen story granite 
edifice took its place. Many well-known firms were 
among Mr. Johnston's tenants in the old building, 
some of whom still have offices in the new one. 

The family came home, however, to a sorrow far 
greater than that occasioned by the loss of these build- 
ings — a sorrow for which they were not, however, en- 
tirely unprepared. Poor Alick, who had spent the 
winter in the South in the vain hope of restoring his 
health, had now been brought back by his brother 
Robert and was in the hitter's home at Paterson, New 
Jersey. His two nephews went over to see him the 
second day after their landing and found him "sadly 
altered." Mr. Johnston also at the earliest moment 
visited Alick, Robert writing to the Scotch relatives: 
"My brother John made out a few days after his 
arrival to come down to see him but it cost him great 
exertion," adding, "some one or other of the boys is 
down once a week." 

This bright, afl^ectionate, jolly young fellow only 
lived until the following December. He had an in- 
tense love for his old home and requested that he should 
after death be taken to Scotland and buried near his 
mother. On the tombstone in Balmaghie Churchyard 
is written, "His body lyes here by his own desire." 

[ i»o ] 



LATTER DAYS 

His nephew John was so fond of him that years later, 
in attempting to tell his son Herbert of Alick's death, 
he broke down and was unable to proceed — the only 
time his children ever knew him to be thus affected. 

A year and a half after this, on August 11, 1847, 
Mr. Johnston lost his old friend George Johnston, who 
j)assed away, aged seventy-nine years. Even if the 
old gentleman had become "crusty and irascible," the 
former could never forget the many kindnesses shown 
to him in his early New York days, and it gave him a 
real satisfaction to have his lonely old friend laid in his 
own vault at Greenwood. 

The two summers following the return from Europe, 
were spent at Sharon Springs. John Johnston's in- 
firmities slowly increased and in 1847 he said: "1 
am now one year older & cannot expect that my com- 
plaints should be fewer." His journals and letters 
became little more than chronicles of ill-health, although 
he continued to dwell upon the brighter side. "I am 
still lio})elessly lame and at times nuich pained . . . yet 
my general health is good and although incapable of 
free locomotion I can when I sit still reasonably enjoy 
life in the society of my friends or in reading or writing 
and as in worldly matters providence has made my 
cup to overflow, I have much — very much — to be 
thankful for & very little comparatively to complain 
of." 

The courage and cheerfulness displayed by the 
parents under all circumstances enabled their children 
to have always beautiful memories of them. John once 
said of his father, "As to good spirits, in that he was 

[191] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

never lacking," and of his mother, who was left for so 
many years to be a joy to her children, "My Mother 
remains in excellent health & good spirits. She is as 
light on her feet as a young girl." 

To this time belongs a daguerreotype of "Maggie 
and her friends" which John had made in 1847, princi- 
pally, it is declared, because he was already interested 
in Fanny Colles and knew of no other way of secur- 
ing hei- picture. After it was finished he claimed it as 
his own, which the girls considered a mean trick. 
Maggie formed the centre of the group — at her right, 
standing up, was Louise Alley, who later became Mrs. 
Thomas Whitaker. In front of her sat Phoebe Anna 
Tliorne, the only one of the group now living; while 
next to her was Frances Colles, the object of all the 
deep scheming, soon to wed the young man himself. 
On Maggie's left, leaning against her, sat Caroline 
Greeley, who had already become Mrs. George Cornell; 
above was Charlotte Pearsall, who married Mr. Edwin 
Thorne; and on the end was Maggie's bosom friend, 
Lydia Alley, later Mrs. George Griswold, Jr. They 
were an engaging circle of young ladies and many of them 
were present at Margaret's wedding two years later. 

Margaret was married on May 17, 1849, to John 
Bard, and in the before-mentioned "Dinner Party 
Book" her mother gives a description of the wedding: 
"A morning bridal party for my daughter and Mr. 
Bard. The day was lovely and our rooms were crowded 
with company. The ceremony took place at half past 
one o'clock and there were very few present^ — only our 
relatives and intimate friends — but our invitations to 
the reception were widely extended. The table was in 

[ 192] 



LATTER DAYS 

the back room across the windows and stood all the 
time. It was very elegant and much admired." The 
young people went to live at their new home in the 
country, "Annandale," near Barrytown-on-Hudson, 
which left the parents very lonely. 

This state of affairs was, however, somewhat alle- 
viated shortly afterwards by John's marriage on May 
15, 1850, to Frances Colles, the young couple having 
been invited to make their home with Mr. and Mrs. 
Johnston at No. 7 Washington Square. It is character- 
istic that the father should have presented a pew in the 
Grand Street Presbyterian Church to his son, as soon 
as he became engaged to an Episcopalian, lest he l)e 
tempted to wander away from the church of his fathers. 

Three years and a half later, on October 13, 185,'j, 
James Boorman Johnston also married. His bride was 
Mary Hoppin Humphreys, daughter of Mr. May 
Humphreys, of Philadelphia, and the wedding took 
I)lace at St. Andrew's Church in that city, the cere- 
mony being performed by Dr. Stevens, later Bishop 
of Pennsylvania. Mr. Johnston did not, however, live 
to see his second son's marriage. 

Only two months before Mr. Johnston's death, his 
first grandchild, the daughter of his son John, was 
born in his Washington Square home— an event which' 
gave him much pleasure. He used to have the child 
put in a basket on the floor alongside of his chair, so 
that he could look down on the little one. 

He was now a very great and constant sufferer, and 
when in his seventieth year death came, on April lO, 
1851, it was, as he had often said it would be, "a great 
deliverance." 

[193] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

Samuel Johnston, who then lived at Barnboard Mill, 
John Johnston's birthplace, wrote of him, "one of the 
noblest and most generous souls ever the South of 
Scotland produced . . . You may well be proud of such 
a Father and I of such a Brother." His friend and 
kinsman, the Rev. John McMillan of Kirkcudbright, 
wrote a fine appreciation of his character, in which 
he declared that: "Few men have been more justly 
esteemed or more extensively useful ... & the great 
day alone, I believe, will discover the extent of his 
liberalities & kindnesses." 

The funeral took place at No. 7 Washington Square, 
and besides the eight pallbearers, there were invited 
to take part, as was the custom in those days, no fewer 
than eight clergymen and six physicians. His pastor 
and friend, the Rev. Joseph McElroy, who had been 
on intimate terms with him for so many years, made 
the funeral address, with some extracts from which 
it is appropriate that this sketch of his life should be 
brought to a close. 

"... a man of sound and well-balanced mind. If 
less remarkable than some for those brilliant and 
striking qualities which dazzle and oft-times mislead, 
he was more remarkable than most for those better 
qualities which inspire confidence and elicit respect; 
and all his mental powers were expanded and im- 
proved by extensive reading and habits of reflection. 

"He was a man amiable and cheerful in temper, a 
happy spirit, who always met you with a smile. And 
the happiness he felt himself he was anxious to impart 
to others. No man, even of the humblest walk in life, 

[194] 



LATTER DAYS 

could approach him without feeling the kindness of 
his disposition. 

*' He was a man of unbending and incorruptible in- 
tegrity—governed by moral principles in all the trans- 
actions of life. Extensively engaged in mercantile 
pursuits for nearly half a century, his probity and 
lionor have been unimpeached and unimpeachable; 
and he has gone from among us, with the veneration 
of many, and the unfeigned respect of all who knew 
him. 

"He was naturally a generous man, and for the 
gratification of this disposition Providence gave him 
ample means . . . and as riches increased, he did not 
set his heart upon them, but devoted them to their 
true uses — employed them as became a man of intel- 
ligent benevolence and warm-hearted piety. His 
benefactions were large, his charities were open- 
hearted and open-handed, embracing in their sphere 
the temporal necessities of his fellow creatures, the 
promotion of the cause of education and learning, and 
every object of Christian benevolence. He was always 
with the foremost in every good work; and never have I 
known a more 'cheerful giver.' Nor were his liberal 
contributions to such objects as those mentioned wholly 
the result of natural generosity. They proceeded from 
principle. He felt himself to be a steward, and that 
the hour of reckoning was approaching. Most forcibly 
was I struck with an observation which he made to me 
during the past winter, when referring to an investment 
which he had been urged to make, and which had been 
represented as likely to prove exceedingly profitable. 
'If, said he, 'I had been sure that that representation 

[195] 



JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK, MERCHANT 

would be realized, I should not have made it. I have 
enough — as much as I wish to be answerable for ' . . . 

"But 'the heart knoweth his own bitterness.' I 
have lost a friend. To part with such a friend in a 
world like this is no small matter." 



GENEALOGICAL 
TABLES 



H 109 89 



H 109 89 



■(. 



THK CHILDREN OF 
JOHN JOHNSTON OF BARNBOARD 

) II N J O H N S T O N , 1749— April 29, 1841. 
3,. Doiothfii I'roudfoot, 1780 (1758— June 1. 1794). 

1 JOHN JOHNSTON, June «2, 1781— April 16, 1851. s~ .,ppo.i« m.i.., 
„. Margaret Rae, 1795 (1776— April 26, 1841). 

I JESSIE (JANF:T) (April ii, 1796 -March 11, 18IS) died of 

c'on.sumptioii. 

II AGNES (NANNY) (December 31, 1797 January 13, 1884) 

married first George Nishet and afterwards Thomas Maxwell. 
She lived at Dalbeattie and had in all seven children, one of 
whom, Mrs. Joseph Newall, still resides there. 

ill WILLIAM (April ii, 1800— died at some date between 1837 and 
1841) married Elizabeth Davidson on March \i, \H4i>. He 
went to America in 1819 and was engaged in business in 
Petersburg, Virginia, where he had a partner named Arthur 
Johnston. At the time of his death he left one daughter, Mary 
E., who was afterwards educated and taken care of by her 
vindc Robert in his home at Paler.son, New Jersey. 

|\' SAMl'EL (July 7, 180^— March 19, 1890) married Ilaimah Bar- 
row, an English Quakeress, and had a family of nine children. 
He lived for a long time in Birmingham, England, but after 
his father's death returned to Scotland and occu|)ie<l at various 
times both Barnboard, or as he called it, "Glentoo" mill, and 
Millbank mill. His daughter, Agnes N. Johnston, still owns 
Millbank cottage, and lives there with his son Robert. His 
daughter Dorothea, Mrs. Henry Maclellan, lives near-by in 
Castle Douglas. 

\ ItOBERT (July 7, 1804— June «8, 1848) never married. He went 
to New York in 1821 and some years later was engaged in a 
commission business in Richmond, Virginia, under the firm 
name of Triplett & Johnst<m. Afterwards in New York he 
was a |)artner of Silas Wood and Francis Burritt, and still 
later built the Dolphin Mills at I'aterson, New Jersey, and con- 
ducted a successful business there in the manufacture of hemp 
bagging, etc. He was killed during the destruction by fire of 
the PatPTSOTT cluiirli, while aiiling in — rm — ulli^nifil lu mpv^*^fa^~ 
organ. 

JAMES (July 29, 1806— May 6, 1859) married Mary Cooper, an 
Englishwoman. He, as well as Samuel, was in business in 
Birmingham. Later, he also returned to Scotland and lived at 
Dalbeattie. He had six children, of whom one daughter, Clara 
Johnston, .still lives there. 

VII JEANIE (May 25, 1808— September 25, 1808). 

VIII ALEXANDER (June 14, 1810— December 12, 1845) never 

married. He was for a short time with his brother Samuel 
in England before coming to America. In 1835 he .sailed for 
Charleston and remained in the South for a year or two, 
engaged in the cotton business. Later, in New York, he was 
a head clerk in the commission house of W'ood, Johnston & 
Burritt, of which his brother Robert was a partner. He be- 
came a partner himself in 1844, when his brother moved to 
Paterson, and the firm was then called Burritt & Johnston. 

During a visit to Scotland in the summer of 1844 he con- 
tracted a cold which developed into "a con.sumption." He 
lived until December, 1845, and was interred, according to his 
own re(|uest, in Halnuighic Kirkyard. 

IX MARGARET (March 18, 1813 -April 11, 1890) was the only 

one still remaining at home at the time of her parents' 
death. She afterwards married George Carruthcrs and had 
ten children. They lived at Ashby de la Zouch, England, 
and later at Durham-Kirki>atrick, Scotland. After her hus- 
band's <leath she returned to England, and some of her 
children still live at Ashby de la Zouch. 

\ DOROTHEA (DOLLY) (March 18, 1816 — March 1,), 1849) 
married James Harker and lived in England. She had seven 
children, who all died, the last one in 1860. 



DESCENDANTS OF 
.JOHN JOHNSTON OF NEW YORK 

J O H N J O H N S T O N , June 22, 1781-Apr. 16. »851- 

m. Margaret Taylor, Sept. 2, 1817 (Sept. 10, 1784-Dec. 12. 1879). 

JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSTON. Apr. 8, 1820-Mar. 24. 189S 
m. Frances Colles. May 15. 1850 (Apr. 29, 1826-July 20, 1888) 

Emilv Johnston, Feb. 13, 1851 — 

m. Robert Weeks de Forest, Nov. 12. 1872 (Apr. 25. 1848- ■ 

JOHNSTON DE FOREST. Sept. .'.. 187S— 

m. NaUlie Coffin 0.-I. 6. 1904 (Ocl. 30. 1»8.'»— .\|.r. ««. I9W)- 
IIKNIIY LOCKWOOD in: KOttEST. Aug. B. 1875- 
m. Amy H Brown. Aug. «♦. 1899 (Apr. «8 1878— 
Mat de FoKiMT. Mar. «7. 190«— 
EuiLY J0HN8TON DE Forest 4nd. May ii, 1903 — 

ETHEL DE FOnEST, Mar. IS, 1877— 

m. Allen Earle Whitman, Ort. 1 1907 (March 48. I87e— 
Allen Eahle W'HrruAS Jr.. Sept. «6, 1908— 
FKANCES EMILY de FOREST. Dec. U 1878 — 

m. William Adams Walker Stewart. May 1. 1900 (Sept. 10. 1876- 
Fkancks Dorothy Stewart, Apr 1, 1901 — 
[ Aug. 1 190«- 



Ethel de F.i 
William Ad^ 
Edward Sue 



&rE« 



i Stei 



. Sepl. i* 1903— 
. Oct. 10. 1905— 



CoLLM Johnston, Mar. 14, 1853— Sept. 11, 1886. 

John Heubeht Johnston, Feb. 22. 1855 — ■ 

m. Celcstine Noi-l. May 23, 1892. f 

EMILIE NOEL JOHNSTON. Jan. 43. 1894— 

Frances Johnston, Jan. 9, 1857 — 
m. Pierre Mali, Apr. 30, 1892. 

JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSTON MALI. Mar. 47. 1893— 

GERTRUDE MALI, Apr. M, 1894— 

EVA MALI. Dec. 5, 1895- 

HENRY Jl'LIAN MALI. .\ug. 11. 1899— 

EvA Johnston, Sept. 19, 1866— 

ra. Henr>' Eugene Coe, Nov. 27, 1888. 

EMILY' COE. Nov. 41, 1889— 
ROSALIE COE. Sept. 46, 1891- 
COLLES JOHNSTON COE, .Mar. 48, 18113— 
HE.NRV ELUENE COE, Jr., Ocl. 4, 1894— 

ANDREW TAYLOR JOHNSTON, Nov. 13, 1821— Mar. 14. 1822. 

JAMES BOORMAN JOHNSTON, Dec. 30, 1822— Sept. 26, 1887. 
in. Mary Hoppin Humphreys, Oct. 13, 1853. 

Mary Hu.mphrevs Johnston, Sept. 4, 1854 — 
Margaret Taylor Johnston, Sept. 24, 1855 — 
John Humphreys Johnston, Nov. 2. 1857 — 
m. Annie Lazarus, June 21, 1899. 

M.VKGARET TAYLOR JOHNSTON, Nov. 23, 182.5— Apr. 10. 1875. 
Ml. John Bard, May 17, 1849. 

Emily Baud, July 12, 1851 — 

III. Charies B. Lutyens, Sept. 28, 1886. 
CHARLES (JRAEME Ll'TVENS, July 11. 1887— 
LIONEL GALLIVEY Ll'TVENS, Dec. .30. 1889— 
EADREU JOHN TEXN.\.\T LL'TVENS, July 1, 1891— 
ENDEKBV CJORUON LUTYENS, July 1«. 189*— 
MARGARET SYLVU De N. LUTYENS, Aug. 14, 1895— 

Caroline Bard, Feb. 15, 185.5— Nov. 17, 1879. 
Wii.LiAM Barii. Feb. 29, 1856— Feb. 17, 1868. 
Ros.KLir. UE NoHMANDIE Bark, Sept. 15, 1867 — 
Ml. Charles A. Moran, Oct. 14, 1891. 

ROSALIE BARI> MOR.\N. Sept. 47, 1894— 

CHARLES BLAKE MORAN, June 30, 1894— 

BARD MOHAN. July 46. 1900— 

ANSON BLAKE .MORAN, Jan. 6. 1904— 

ELIZABETH MOU.\N. Feb. 4, 1904— 

1:M1LY PKOUDFOOT JOHNSTON. Sept. 10, 1827— .May 30, 1831. 



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